5 minute read
Access software
Teradici Workstation Access software
Getting remote access to a CAD workstation doesn’t have to mean an expensive data centre solution. Teradici’s low-cost software enables you to remote in to your desktop workstation over LAN or WAN.
Use your powerful desktop workstation from anywhere. Images courtesy of Dell and Autodesk
Teradici is a pioneer of remote workstation to the design on the fly. Importantly, there is technology, best known for its PCoIP no need to take a powerful workstation with (PC-over-IP) protocol, which is optimised you and you don’t have to waste time transfor 3D CAD, rather than static office appli- ferring large BIM datasets and (sometimes) cations. Its host cards are typically found software licences from machine to machine. in rack workstations and remain popular The host software is a mere 20MB downwith firms that want the dedicated perfor- load and, for use over LAN, is very easy to mance of a one-to-one connection between configure. By following the Quick Access workstation and zero client. Guide that comes with the software it liter-
Last year the company brought its data ally took us minutes to get up and running. centre technology to the desktop. But rather As part of the install, the software autothan sticking a Teradici PCoIP host card matically displays the IP address and name inside a workstation tower, Teradici has of the host workstation. Punch this informadeveloped a software only solution that uses tion into the client software, followed by the the workstation’s CPU to compress, encrypt host machine’s Windows log in details and and send the IP packets over a network. password, and you’re all set. The worksta-
The big target for Teradici’s Workstation tion’s desktop then appears on the client, Access software is the small and medium windowed or full screen, and you can use it enterprise (SME) — design, engineering, in virtually the same say you would as if and architecture firms with less than 100 you were sat in front of the workstation. desktop workstations that do We tested out the software not want to jump head first on a basic 100BASE-T netinto a data centre solution. The software consists of Teradici Workstation Access Software work using a Dell Precision Tower 5810 workstation as two components: a $199 Price: $199 (plus mandatory the host, and client software ‘host’ application, that runs $40 for one-year support on a MacBook Pro and iPad. on the workstation as a backand software upgrades) When running Revit and ground Windows service, teradici.com SketchUp we really could and the free PCoIP software not tell the difference to client, which runs on the remote device. The using the applications locally. The software software client is available for Windows, was very responsive to mouse clicks and Mac OSX, ChromeOS, iOS and Android, so model rotation was smooth. Obviously you you can use pretty much any device to con- are a bit limited as to what you can do on nect and still get that same interactive 3D an iPad, but for client presentations this experience you would on your local work- could be an interesting option. station. You can also use a PCoIP zero cli- Over WAN, unfortunately, setup becomes ent, if you prefer dedicated hardware. more complicated. There are two ways to
Teracici’s Workstation Access software do this. can be used over LAN or WAN. The preferred solution is a Virtual Private
Over LAN, it gives firms the flexibility of Network (VPN), which enables the client to being able to access a workstation from connect to the host workstation as if it were any machine in the building, even over on the same network. This could be a hardWiFi. This means no more moving work- ware-based VPN or a VPN service providstations from design office to meeting room ed by an ISP like BT. Teradici recommends for 3D presentations or design review. a UDP-based VPN for the best remote user
It is over WAN, however, where things get experience (Cisco IPSec VPN is preferred). most interesting. Designers can work from While many SMEs will already have a home, of an evening or weekend, or show VPN in place, for those that don’t, or don’t clients the latest revisions in a fully acceler- want to get involved in setting one up, there ated 3D environment — even make changes is an alternative in ‘port forwarding’. This basically involves making changes to your office’s Internet router and some registry edits to the host workstation. As port forwarding only allows use of a single host workstation (VPN can work with multiple machines) this method is only really recommended for very small firms.
WAN configuration is documented in a variety of ‘knowledge documents’ on Teradici’s support site but it can be a little bewildering to those without any network experience. It’s a shame Teradici’s Quick Access Guide, which does a great job of explaining LAN setup to non-experts, does not extend to deployments over WAN. Those that don’t understand the basics of VPN and port forwarding could feel a little lost.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to test out access over WAN as we didn’t have a VPN in place and our basic router did not have sufficient support for port forwarding. We’ve no reason to believe the technology shouldn’t work well over WAN, providing there is a decent high bandwidth, low latency connection in place. Conclusion At $199 Teradici’s Workstation Access Software is a very cost effective way for SMEs to give designers remote access to their workstations without the big upfront costs of a data centre solution.
However, while the solution is easy to set up for use over LAN, smaller AEC firms, who may not have the necessary IT knowledge in house, may find configuration for WAN a little daunting. Teradici could do better here by offering more guidance for first time users, although in saying that the software does come with one-year support for $40 and, of course, you can always pay someone to set it up for you.
If you want to experience what it’s like to be able to access your workstation remotely we’d highly recommend you give it test drive. The software is available for a free 30-day trial from Teradici.com. Software licences can be bought from Dell and BOXX and a number of other resellers.
