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Remote Mac Management on a Budget: Low-Cost Alternatives to Apple Remote Desktop

Mar 9, 2007

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VNC Servers
VNC Viewers
Desktop Transporter

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Desktop Transporter

As I mentioned earlier, Desktop Transporter is a tool that is very similar to VNC but is a solution all its own. Unlike VNC, Desktop Transporter is a single application that can act as both a viewer/client and a server. The Desktop Transporter interface is very clean and easy to understand. It includes a tab that lists available computers for observation and management and a tab for turning sharing of the Mac on which it is running on or off. It uses Bon Jour to make locating computers easier, but it also support entering of computers beyond the local network segment.

Like the Apple Remote Desktop multiple computer observation window, Desktop Transporter’s list of available computers includes a real-time thumbnail of each display—making it a more useful solution for classroom monitoring than VNC. This feature and its easy-to-use interface for both sharing and locating shared desktops (a nice tool for nontechnical users, including consumers) are Desktop Transporter’s only real strengths over VNC. In fact, most of its functionality is almost like a proprietary version of VNC—one that lacks the VNC broad multiplatform nature and doesn’t offer a no-cost solution (a license for Desktop Transporter costs $29.95, allowing it to be run on two machines).

Like most VNC servers, Desktop Transporter can be run as a user- or system-level process. However, to enhance security when running as a system-level process, it requires that you authenticate through an SSH connection prior to granting access (which is probably the only user-unfriendly part of its design). Desktop Transporter also enables you to require that SSH connections be used for all communications, thus adding a much higher level of security

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