Last Updated on August 23, 2021
Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a graphical desktop sharing system which uses the RFB protocol to remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard and mouse events from one computer to another, relaying any changes to the screen that may occur, over a network. VNC operates either as a server, generating a display delivered remotely, or as a client actually drawing the received display to your screen.
VNC is platform-independent — a VNC viewer on any operating system can connect to a VNC server on any other operating system. Multiple clients may connect to a single VNC server at the same time.
Popular use of this technology includes system administration where administrators can take control of a machine to diagnose and fix problems remotely. Physical access to the console is not necessary with this application. VNC is in widespread use throughout industry, academia and privately, and the free edition is included in all major Linux distributions.
Besides the Free edition, VNC is also available in personal and enterprise editions, both released under proprietary commercial licenses.
RealVNC was founded and staffed by the original AT&T team who created VNC. VNC has spawned a number of derivative products including UltraVNC and TightVNC.
Features include:
- Uses TCP/IP protocol to remotely control computers across the internet.
- Simple challenge-response protocol (Enterprise and Personal Edition include support for strong encryption and authentication – 2048-bit RSA Server Authentication, 128-bit AES Session Encryption and Tamper-Proofing).
- Can be tunnelled over an SSH or VPN connection.
- Legacy VNC 3 Compatibility.
- VNC 4 Free Edition Compatibility.
Website: www.realvnc.com
Support:
Developer: RealVNC
License: GNU GPL v2
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