VNC

[4] The name Virtual Network Computer/Computing (VNC) originated with ORL's work on a thin client called the Videotile, which also used the RFB protocol.

Following this, several members of the development team (including Richardson, Harter, Weatherall and Hopper) formed RealVNC in order to continue working on open-source and commercial VNC software under that name.

As of 2013[update], RealVNC Ltd claims the term "VNC" as a registered trademark in the United States and in other countries.

In its simplest form, the VNC protocol can use a lot of bandwidth, so various methods have been devised to reduce the communication overhead.

This encoding works very well if only a small portion of the screen changes from one frame to the next (as when a mouse pointer moves across a desktop, or when text is written at the cursor), but bandwidth demands get very high if a lot of pixels change at the same time (such as when scrolling a window or viewing full-screen video).

Several implementations also start a basic HTTP server on port 5800+N to provide a VNC viewer as a Java applet, allowing easy connection through any Java-enabled web-browser.

However, it may require advanced network address translation (NAT), firewall and router configuration such as port forwarding in order for the connection to go through.

RealVNC offers high-strength AES encryption as part of its commercial package, along with integration with Active Directory.

VNC may be tunneled over an SSH or VPN connection which would add an extra security layer with stronger encryption.

[citation needed] An additional security concern for the use of VNC is to check whether the version used requires authorization from the remote computer owner before someone takes control of their device.

This will avoid the situation where the owner of the computer accessed realizes there is someone in control of their device without previous notice.

[14] Alternatively, a machine (which may be a workstation or a network server) with screen, keyboard, and mouse can be set up to boot and run the VNC server as a service or daemon, then the screen, keyboard, and mouse can be removed and the machine stored in an out-of-the way location.

[15] Other programs or software libraries which implement VNC include Krfb, Libvncserver, PocketVNC, Remmina, TigerVNC, TightVNC, VirtualGL, and Vinagre.