Windows IT Pro is the leading independent community for IT professionals deploying Microsoft Windows server and client applications and technologies.
  
  
  Advanced Search 


September 2002

Best Remote Computing Products

RSS
Subscribe to Windows IT Pro | See More Products / Software Articles Here | Reprints | Or get the Monthly Online Pass—only $5.95 a month!

REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTS
Our readers ranked Microsoft's Remote Desktop in Windows XP Professional as the leader when it comes to remote control products.

Remote Desktop provides access to a desktop running Windows XP Professional from a remote location, providing users with the flexibility to work on a Windows XP Professional-based computer from another computer running Windows 95 or later. Remote Desktop is an extension of Windows 2000 Terminal Services. When Remote Desktop is enabled on a computer, a user can connect to it and access all his files, applications, and network resources as though they were sitting in front of the host computer.

Remote Desktop also provides security during connection. If a user connects to his Windows XP Professional computer by using another feature, anyone might see his mouse and keyboard actions on the computer. When the user connects to his desktop by using Remote Desktop, the computer to which he is connecting is automatically locked. This prevents anyone from watching his movements on the screen as he works on the remote computer.


REMOTE DESKTOP IN WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL
Microsoft Corp.
Redmond, WA
(425) 882-8080
www.microsoft.com
Price: Free with Windows XP Professional

RAS AND RRAS SOLUTIONS
Our readers say that you can manage remote users more easily by using NORTHERN's RasTracker, which automates the management of your remote users by offering complete control over your RAS, RRAS, and VPN resources.

RasTracker offers an array of additional features, including the ability to count and record traffic based on bytes in/bytes out, while providing an important layer of security by preventing concurrent logons (i.e., denying access to a second client trying to log on with a user that is already connected).

RasTracker logs all connection and disconnection activities, providing a history of RAS use within the system (e.g., how often an account has been logging on, the total log on time, the total amount of data uploaded or downloaded, call back numbers used). Captured usage information and session history can be exported to an ODBC-compliant database, enabling the network administrator to create custom reports.


RASTRACKER
NORTHERN Parklife, Inc.
Tampa, FL
(800) 881-4950
www.northern.net
Price: Starts at $495

VPNs
If you need a VPN, you might consider InfoExpress' VTCP/Secure, which our readers chose as the Best VPN. InfoExpress' software-based VTCP/Secure is a remote VPN/extranet solution for large enterprises.

The software extends the security protection of a corporate network to remote users over safe Internet connections. VTCP/Secure offers a feature to transparently traverse corporate firewalls, proxy servers, and NAT devices to create a secure tunnel between the remote user's system and the corporate network.

The software requires no end-user client configuration and it can be deployed easily to tens of thousands of users. All data transmission is protected via encryption, authentication, and authorization. VTCP/Secure has been adopted by many Fortune 500 enterprises since its original release in 1996.


VTCP/SECURE 5.1
InfoExpress, Inc.
Mountain View, CA
(650) 623-0260
www.infoexpress.com
Price: Client pricing starts at $99 per seat; server pricing is $2,495 each.

WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL SOLUTIONS
The winner in the category Best Wireless Application Protocol Solutions is Network Instruments' Wireless Observer Suite, a cost-effective, Windows-based network monitor and protocol analyzer that integrates multiple networking technologies for Ethernet (10/100/gigabit), Token Ring (4/16/100), FDDI, and Wireless 802.11.

Observer Suite provides complete network analysis, distributed architecture, SNMP, RMON, and Web access for all LANs, WLANs, and WANs and monitors the local segment/switch and any remote segment or switch.

Wireless support is seamlessly integrated into Observer Suite, including complete wireless capture/decode, statistics, trending, and expert analysis. In addition, Observer offers many other Wireless features not available with competing products: Wireless Trending, Wireless Access Point Statistics, and Wireless Network Vital Signs.


WIRELESS OBSERVER® SUITE
Network Instruments, LLC
Minneapolis, MN
(952) 932-9899, (800) 526-7919
www.networkinstruments.com
Price: $3,995

End of Article



Reader Comments

You must be a registered user or online subscriber to comment on this article. Please log on before posting a comment. Are you a new visitor? Register now




Top Viewed ArticlesView all articles
Command Prompt Tricks

One reader shares his tip for setting up the command prompt to reflect a remote path. ...

WinInfo Short Takes: Week of November 9, 2009

An often irreverent look at some of the week's other news, including some more Windows 7 sales momentum, some Sophos stupidity, Microsoft's cloud computing self-loathing, more whining from the browser makers, Zoho's "Fake Office," and much, much more ...

Understanding File-Size Limits on NTFS and FAT

A general confusion about files sizes on FAT seems to stem from FAT32's file-size limit of 4GB and partition-size limit of 2TB. ...


Related Events WinConnections and Microsoft® Exchange Connections

Deep Dive into Windows Server 2008 R2 presented by John Savill

Check out our list of Free Email Newsletters!

Windows OSs eBooks Understanding and Leveraging Code Signing Technologies

A Guide to Windows Certification and Public Keys

SQL Server Administration for Oracle DBAs

Related Windows OSs Resources Introducing Left-Brain.com, the online IT bookstore
Looking for books, CDs, toolkits, eBooks? Prime your mind at Left-Brain.com

Discover Windows IT Pro eLearning Series!
Clear & detailed technical information and helpful how-to's, all in our trademark no-nonsense format


Windows IT Pro Home Register FAQ for Windows WinInfo News
Europe Edition About Us Contact Us/Customer Service Media Kit Affiliates / Licensing  
SQL Server Magazine Office & SharePoint Pro DevProConnections IT Job Hound
Left-Brain.com Technology Resource Directory asp.netPRO ITTV Windows SuperSite 
 
 Windows IT Pro is a Division of Penton Media Inc.
 © 2009 Penton Media, Inc. Terms of Use | Privacy Statement