Review: Desktop Access From Afar
What do they all have in common? The need to access the desktop, even when they're not physically sitting in front of the machine. Enter Famatech's Radmin 3.0 remote control software, which enables remote users to open up their desktops and get access to all their applications and data.
Radmin 3.0 has two components: a server module and a viewer. The server module is installed on the machine that the user wants to access remotely, and the viewer is installed on the PC the user is currently operating. After installation, the server can be configured to allow viewers to connect to the desktop in view mode or with full control.
Radmin can set authentication to take advantage of the current Windows NT Security or create user accounts for the computer. User-level permissions can specify read-write access, deleting files or shutting down the computer. The server can also maintain a list of approved IP addresses from which users can connect. Even if users have a proper username and password, the server won't allow connections to the desktop if they are usng an unauthorized machine.
Once user access the remote machine, they can open, modify and delete applications and files, depending on their level of access. Remote printing, or sending a document from the remote machine to a locally attached printer, is not yet available, but Moscow-based Famatech said that capabilitiy will be in future versions. However, Radmin uses an internal, FTP-like protocol that quickly and securely copies files between the local and remote machines. The two-paned window transfers files with a simple drag-and-drop.
The latest Radmin version features voice and text chat functionality. Users can talk to each other as long as each computer has speakers or headphones and a microphone. In a help-desk environment, the user and the technician can talk through all the steps taken to resolve a problem. The chat can also be used in a conference or training scenario, where the students connect to the trainer's machine to view a demo or a presentation.
A common complaint with remote control software is the inherent lag time waiting for the remote computer to respond to a click or window scrolling. In trying out Radmin 3.0, the CRN Test Center didn't see a noticeable lag in opening up resource-intensive applications, beyond what's observed on the local machine. A similar test with the free utility UltraVNC had some lag time. Also, Radmin refreshed the screen more often. If the bit-rate setting is lowered (for bandwidth reasons, perhaps), the screen refresh happens less frequently, but that is up to the user. Famatech said Radmin is at least twice as fast as the competition, such as PC Anywhere and UltraVNC.
Radmin 3.0 runs on Windows 2000, XP and Vista. To make Radmin fully compatible with Vista, Famatech's engineers had to redesign the way the server module communicated with the machine's processors. A hook into the graphics card allows for a virtual device that mimics a physical device in performance. The application takes advantage of the virtual device to bypass the processor and reduce CPU overhead.
VARs can bundle a remote control application like Radmin with third-party products. For example, a system that uses PC-based security cameras can have Radmin installed, allowing administrators to access the camera's configuration panel remotely to adjust the focus and direction of the cameras.
Famatech has a flexible channel program and does not require minimum sales volumes from its partners. That said, there are more resources and discounts available for partners that do make a commitment.
Priced at $49 and available as a free 30-day trial, Radmin 3.0 includes both the server module and the viewer. Volume discounts are available, as well as specially negotiated rates for education and non-profit groups. The viewer is also available separately as a free download at http://www.famatech.com.