PC Remote Login – What Method is Right for You? Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and Remote Desktop Protocols (RDP) are two popular methods of connecting to network resources while working outside of a physical office environment. If you’re working remotely now, there’s a good chance you are using one of these two methods to access information you need to do your job. If set up properly, both VPN and RDP are viable, secure tools for most businesses to use. However, they do differ and it’s important to know how in order to pick the best one for you and your colleagues.
VPN
A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is an internet pathway created to securely transfer information. Instead of your data traveling across the web with the rest of the world’s information, it travels through a private, protected connection, straight from your home computer to resources back in the office. If the internet is a highway, a VPN connection is an underground tunnel that only you get to use.
The effectiveness of a VPN connection for PC remote login is largely dependent on the speed of your computer and its internet connection. Additionally, completing larger and more complex processes can be difficult over VPN, since the data now must travel over the internet, instead of through a network cable in the office.
RDP
RDP, or Remote Desktop Protocol, also allows a user to remotely access data and resources that are stored at the office. However, when a RDP establishes a secure connection between your home computer and your office computer, instead of passing files and data back and forth like a VPN, you pass commands from your computer at home to the computer at the office. Everything you do on your computer, the computer at the office mimics. You move your mouse; the office computer moves its mouse. You press the space bar; the office computer presses its space bar. Your home computer basically acts as a remote control for an office computer, except that the “computer” at the office is virtual, meaning that it’s built inside the server itself.
The benefit of this remote-control style setup for PC remote login is that it requires much less computing power and therefore is less dependent on the speed of the internet. This allows you to perform more complex tasks and access resources that require the larger storage capabilities.
So, Which PC Remote Login Method is Right for You?
As with most technology questions, the answer is: it depends. It depends on the size and type of resources you are trying to access, the speed of your internet connection, and the amount of capital you have available to invest in a solution. However, we hope we were able to provide you with understanding of some of the basic differences between these two PC remote login methods, so that you can make the right decision for you and your fellow employees when it comes to working remotely.
By Joe Couillard, Client Relationship Manager
