Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
VNC
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a graphical desktop-sharing system that uses the Remote Frame Buffer (RFB) protocol to remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard and mouse input from one computer to another, relaying the graphical-screen updates, over a network. Popular uses for this technology include remote technical support and accessing files on one's work computer from one's home computer, or vice versa.
VNC is platform-independent, with clients and servers for many GUI-based operating systems and for Java. Multiple clients may connect to a VNC server at the same time. There are a number of variants of VNC which offer their own particular functionality; e.g., some optimised for Microsoft Windows, or offering file transfer (not part of VNC proper), etc. Many are compatible (without their added features) with VNC proper in the sense that a viewer of one flavour can connect with a server of another; others are based on VNC code but not compatible with standard VNC.
VNC was originally developed at the Olivetti & Oracle Research Lab in Cambridge, United Kingdom, whose developers subsequently created RealVNC Ltd and claimed VNC and RFB as registered trademarks in the US and some other countries. The original VNC source code and many modern derivatives are open source under the GNU General Public License.
The Olivetti & Oracle Research Lab (ORL) at Cambridge in the UK developed VNC at a time when Olivetti and Oracle Corporation owned the lab. Developers who worked on VNC while at the AT&T Research Lab include Tristan Richardson (inventor), Andy Harter (project leader), Quentin Stafford-Fraser, James Weatherall and Andy Hopper. 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. The Videotile had an LCD display with pen input and a fast ATM connection to the network. At the time, network computer was commonly used as a synonym for a thin client; VNC is essentially a software-only (i.e. virtual) network computer.[citation needed]
In 1999, AT&T acquired the lab, and in 2002 closed down the lab's research efforts. 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.
The original GPLed source code has fed into several other versions of VNC. Such forking has not led to compatibility problems because the RFB protocol is designed to be extensible. VNC clients and servers negotiate their capabilities with handshaking in order to use the most appropriate options supported at both ends.
The VNC server is the program on the machine that shares some screen (and may not be related to a physical display: the server can be "headless"), and allows the client to share control of it. The VNC client (or viewer) is the program that presents the screen data originating from the server, receives updates from it, and presumably controls it by informing the server of collected local input. The VNC protocol (RFB protocol) is very simple, based on transmitting one graphic primitive from server to client ("Put a rectangle of pixel data at the specified X,Y position") and event messages from client to server.
In the normal method of operation a viewer connects to a port on the server (default port: 5900). Alternatively (depending on the implementation) a browser can connect to the server (default port: 5800). And a server can connect to a viewer in "listening mode" on port 5500. One advantage of listening mode is that the server site does not have to configure its firewall to allow access on port 5900 (or 5800); the duty is on the viewer, which is useful if the server site has no computer expertise and the viewer user is more knowledgeable.
Hub AI
VNC AI simulator
(@VNC_simulator)
VNC
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a graphical desktop-sharing system that uses the Remote Frame Buffer (RFB) protocol to remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard and mouse input from one computer to another, relaying the graphical-screen updates, over a network. Popular uses for this technology include remote technical support and accessing files on one's work computer from one's home computer, or vice versa.
VNC is platform-independent, with clients and servers for many GUI-based operating systems and for Java. Multiple clients may connect to a VNC server at the same time. There are a number of variants of VNC which offer their own particular functionality; e.g., some optimised for Microsoft Windows, or offering file transfer (not part of VNC proper), etc. Many are compatible (without their added features) with VNC proper in the sense that a viewer of one flavour can connect with a server of another; others are based on VNC code but not compatible with standard VNC.
VNC was originally developed at the Olivetti & Oracle Research Lab in Cambridge, United Kingdom, whose developers subsequently created RealVNC Ltd and claimed VNC and RFB as registered trademarks in the US and some other countries. The original VNC source code and many modern derivatives are open source under the GNU General Public License.
The Olivetti & Oracle Research Lab (ORL) at Cambridge in the UK developed VNC at a time when Olivetti and Oracle Corporation owned the lab. Developers who worked on VNC while at the AT&T Research Lab include Tristan Richardson (inventor), Andy Harter (project leader), Quentin Stafford-Fraser, James Weatherall and Andy Hopper. 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. The Videotile had an LCD display with pen input and a fast ATM connection to the network. At the time, network computer was commonly used as a synonym for a thin client; VNC is essentially a software-only (i.e. virtual) network computer.[citation needed]
In 1999, AT&T acquired the lab, and in 2002 closed down the lab's research efforts. 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.
The original GPLed source code has fed into several other versions of VNC. Such forking has not led to compatibility problems because the RFB protocol is designed to be extensible. VNC clients and servers negotiate their capabilities with handshaking in order to use the most appropriate options supported at both ends.
The VNC server is the program on the machine that shares some screen (and may not be related to a physical display: the server can be "headless"), and allows the client to share control of it. The VNC client (or viewer) is the program that presents the screen data originating from the server, receives updates from it, and presumably controls it by informing the server of collected local input. The VNC protocol (RFB protocol) is very simple, based on transmitting one graphic primitive from server to client ("Put a rectangle of pixel data at the specified X,Y position") and event messages from client to server.
In the normal method of operation a viewer connects to a port on the server (default port: 5900). Alternatively (depending on the implementation) a browser can connect to the server (default port: 5800). And a server can connect to a viewer in "listening mode" on port 5500. One advantage of listening mode is that the server site does not have to configure its firewall to allow access on port 5900 (or 5800); the duty is on the viewer, which is useful if the server site has no computer expertise and the viewer user is more knowledgeable.