Remote Control Gets Redirected

Matt Trask

Mobile workers who want to access data that resides on a remote PC or LAN now have a wide variety of solutions for their communications needs, thanks to new programs that combine several functions in one package. Companies like Ocean Isle Software (Vero Beach, FL) and Triton Technologies (Iselin, NJ) that sell remote-control packages are adding LAN-redirection capabilities to their packages, giving you the ability to dial into your PC on the LAN and access its network services at a cost of $250 or less.

Such packages don't offer the full range of security or simultaneous multiuser access as dedicated products like Shiva's $1699 NetModem/E (see "Network Modems Dial in, Dial out, and Route Packets," November 1992 BYTE). But they offer an inexpensive communications solution for the user who wants to update and transfer files from one system to another.

One common solution for connecting nonnetworked users has been remote-control products like Norton-Lambert's Close-Up or Symantec's Norton PC Anywhere. With remote-control software, you take over a remote PC system as if you were sitting at its keyboard. You can view the remote PC's screen from your own PC, and your keystrokes and mouse actions can control the remote PCs' applications, which is why remote-control programs are often used for technical support and LAN troubleshooting.

Remote-node products take a different approach. In products like the NetModem/E, USRobotics' Communication Server 386, and DCA's Remote LAN Node software, a remote-access server attached to the LAN captures network packets and forwards them to the remote system. There, a network driver presents the network packets to the system as if they had been received directly from a LAN. This permits the remote system to perform any network operation (e.g. , disk, printer, or E-mail) that is possible when attached locally. But remote network operations are somewhat slower than a LAN-attached node because modems usually operate at less than 5 percent of the speed of an Ethernet network.

A third category of software is typified by the LAN-redirection portions of Triton's Co/Session, Ocean Isle's ReachOut, and Traveling Software's CommWorks communications package. These software packages provide remote access without directly giving full access to a remote LAN. Steve Dulaney, product manager of CommWorks, says that unlike products like the NetModem/E, which can support multiple simultaneous users, the LAN-redirection portion of CommWorks is more for making one-to-one connections. But, once you've connected to your PC on the LAN, he says, "Every drive is available, even if it happens to be a network drive." For small workgroups, products in this category provide an inexpensive alternative to more expensive dedicated solutions.

Increasing modem speeds coupled with decreasing costs should improve the usefulness of remote-node products. Inexpensive integration with operating-system software will increase the acceptance of remote-node technology among users. Remote control still is the number-one choice for applications such as remote technical support and training.

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Remote Control vs. Remote Node

REMOTE CONTROL                  REMOTE NODE


Inexpensive, software only      More expensive, usually includes 
                                hardware


Operation slows execution       Operation slows when transferring 
of applications                 files


Best when accessing large       Best with client/server applications 
files                           or other applications that use a 
                                small amount of data


Performs any action a remote    Performs any operation available to 
host can do                     a network node


Requires understanding of       Transparent, s
ame as LAN 
remote control to use           operation