WHS vs NAS

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: bsobel
This article talks about the differences http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2189704,00.asp

Thanks.

I'm quite curious about this sentence in that article (I've seen it mentioned elsewhere as well):

WHS will also allow users to take full remote control of their attached PCs, provided that this feature is enabled on the server?no third-party NAS box does that.

The way I've seen this described before, they said it can provice access across the internet. My question: If I have an NAS server machine running WHS and so configured (i.e. this feature enabled), would I have remote control so that I could run an application on one of my PCs over the internet using, say, a Mac? Just as though I were using the PC? My concern here is not speed, particularly, I'd just like to be able to run an application remotely on the internet and have the access to its data on screen.

Yes, so long as the computer you're intending to have execute the program can work as a RDP server, which means XP Pro or Vista Business and greater.

His question was about Macs.... Unfortuantely the answer is no, they don't act as a remote desktop server.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: bsobel
This article talks about the differences http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2189704,00.asp

Thanks.

I'm quite curious about this sentence in that article (I've seen it mentioned elsewhere as well):

WHS will also allow users to take full remote control of their attached PCs, provided that this feature is enabled on the server?no third-party NAS box does that.

The way I've seen this described before, they said it can provice access across the internet. My question: If I have an NAS server machine running WHS and so configured (i.e. this feature enabled), would I have remote control so that I could run an application on one of my PCs over the internet using, say, a Mac? Just as though I were using the PC? My concern here is not speed, particularly, I'd just like to be able to run an application remotely on the internet and have the access to its data on screen.

Yes, so long as the computer you're intending to have execute the program can work as a RDP server, which means XP Pro or Vista Business and greater.

His question was about Macs.... Unfortuantely the answer is no, they don't act as a remote desktop server.

Um, are you interpreting this correctly? the Mac would be the client here. The application in question is on my local machine, a PC running XP Pro. I want to be able to run the app while at the Mac, remotely over the Internet, presumably running a browser such as Safari (although Firefox would probably be available). I would presumably have a NAS running WHS on my LAN. Although I would usually probably run my application from my PC and not the server, I could easily have the application installed on the NAS and run it from there!

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Muse
The way I've seen this described before, they said it can provice access across the internet. My question: If I have an NAS server machine running WHS and so configured (i.e. this feature enabled), would I have remote control so that I could run an application on one of my PCs over the internet using, say, a Mac?

Microsoft: Windows Home Server Technical Brief for Remote Access

The WHS Remote Access feature is related to the Windows Remote Desktop feature, plus Windows Small Business Server 2003's "Remote Web Workplace". It allows you to take remote control of computers inside your home network using the Remote Desktoop Protocol. It only works on PCs that feature RDP: XP Professional, Vista Business, and Vista Ultimate.

Remote Web Workplace uses TCP Port 4125 to access the WHS server (rather than the typical TCP Port 3389 used for Remote Desktop). Once it hits the WHS Server, WHS offers menu-based access to the suitable PCs inside the network. Note that the menu system uses an INTERNET EXPLORER Active-X component on the remote PC. So you must be running INTERNET EXPLORER in order to use the Remote Access menu-based system. This rules out the Macintosh OS, since it doesn't run Internet Explorer. You CAN use a Macintosh for remote access if you are running a version of Windows inside it (98, 2000, XP, Vista, all versions).

If using the WHS Remote Access feature, remember to port-forward TCP Port 4125 from the Internet to your WHS server. And remember to open up your desktop firewalls to allow TCP Port 3189 traffic from the WHS Server to your desktop PCs. Also, you'll need to enable the Remote Desktop function on the desktop PCs.

As always, if you need Macintosh remote access, you can still access a Windows PC remotely using the Remote Desktop Protocol if you set each internal PC to a different TCP Port, set the appropriate Port Forwards on your router, and use the appropriate Remote Desktop client on the remote Macintosh computer, telling it to use the custom Remote Desktop TCP Port.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: Muse
The way I've seen this described before, they said it can provice access across the internet. My question: If I have an NAS server machine running WHS and so configured (i.e. this feature enabled), would I have remote control so that I could run an application on one of my PCs over the internet using, say, a Mac?

Microsoft: Windows Home Server Technical Brief for Remote Access

The WHS Remote Access feature is related to the Windows Remote Desktop feature, plus Windows Small Business Server 2003's "Remote Web Workplace". It allows you to take remote control of computers inside your home network using the Remote Desktoop Protocol. It only works on PCs that feature RDP: XP Professional, Vista Business, and Vista Ultimate.

Remote Web Workplace uses TCP Port 4125 to access the WHS server (rather than the typical TCP Port 3389 used for Remote Desktop). Once it hits the WHS Server, WHS offers menu-based access to the suitable PCs inside the network. Note that the menu system uses an INTERNET EXPLORER Active-X component on the remote PC. So you must be running INTERNET EXPLORER in order to use the Remote Access menu-based system. This rules out the Macintosh OS, since it doesn't run Internet Explorer. You CAN use a Macintosh for remote access if you are running a version of Windows inside it (98, 2000, XP, Vista, all versions).

If using the WHS Remote Access feature, remember to port-forward TCP Port 4125 from the Internet to your WHS server. And remember to open up your desktop firewalls to allow TCP Port 3189 traffic from the WHS Server to your desktop PCs. Also, you'll need to enable the Remote Desktop function on the desktop PCs.

As always, if you need Macintosh remote access, you can still access a Windows PC remotely using the Remote Desktop Protocol if you set each internal PC to a different TCP Port, set the appropriate Port Forwards on your router, and use the appropriate Remote Desktop client on the remote Macintosh computer, telling it to use the custom Remote Desktop TCP Port.

Thanks. I'll look into this further. I'm not at all certain that I will be able to get the MAC configured in such a way as to support this. It's at a volunteer organization I work at, and administration is generally a tussle with them. However, they may support at least some of the necessary features. I'll be looking into it.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
-snip-

As always, if you need Macintosh remote access, you can still access a Windows PC remotely using the Remote Desktop Protocol if you set each internal PC to a different TCP Port, set the appropriate Port Forwards on your router, and use the appropriate Remote Desktop client on the remote Macintosh computer, telling it to use the custom Remote Desktop TCP Port.

Do you know what might be involved with using the "appropriate Remote Desktop client" on the Mac? They have several Macs that I can use, but I know little about Macs. If I could set one up to access one of my PCs that would be useful to me. I've been trying to figure out for years how to access my home data from this location and never gotten to first base. The easiest way would be to take my laptop but I almost never bother for various reasons. The next option that I've pondered is programming a means to publish my data on the internet, presumably accessible from a browser using login. I don't even know if that's doable, but I think it probably is. I would learn a lot doing that, but it seems not easy. This WHS remote desktop possibility seems a lot easier and I'm intrigued. Again, I'm uncertain how much I can do with those Macs given the somewhat tight control that looms there. They might, they might not let me install anything.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Muse
Do you know what might be involved with using the "appropriate Remote Desktop client" on the Mac?

Microsoft: Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac

 

[California Roll]

I was debating going with a NAS prior to settling on WHS (which I now absolutely love). The main problem for me with NAS was that most were Linux based using a proprietary file system. If I had a hardware failure of some type and needed to pull data off the disks quickly, I might be screwed (I don't have any Linux systems). If my WHS computer goes kaput, I can just pull the drive, pop it into an enclosure and just copy the data off any Windows machine.