VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It was developed by ORL (Olivetti Research Laboratory) and FREE for public use. It provides the ability to remotely access PC and Unix machines from virtually any platform!

VNC will allow you to remotely access your PC via the Internet through a VNC Viewer, Java Viewer or Java Enabled Web Browser. Likewise you can access a UNIX machine via the Internet ... but I don't think many students have a dedicated UNIX station at home.

For example, a user can connect their home PC (server) to the Internet, run VNC, leave their system running and go to work. From work the user can open up a web browser (client) (on a UNIX, Windows, Macintosh or Linux machine) and connect to their PC at home. The client machine will be able to virtually control the PC server by using the mouse and keyboard! Some people might say that VNC is similar to Symantec's PC Anywhere...

VNC is available for Solaris 2.5, Linux 2.0 for x86, DEC Alpha OSF1 3.2, Intel Win32 (Windows 9x/NT/32s), Macintosh and Windows CE 2.x. The supported platforms for the VNC Server are Unix, Windows 9x/NT/32s, and Macintosh. The supported VNC Viewers consist of Unix, Windows 9x/NT/32s, Macintosh, Windows CE and any additional platforms, which fully support Java (v1.0).

Here is a brief overview of how to connect to your PC running Windows 9x from a web browser. More information may be obtained directly from the ORL/VNC web site http://www.orl.co.uk/vnc/index.html. After downloading and installing VNC, run the VNC executable. If you are running VNC for the first time you will be prompted to enter an access password, VNC will not allow you to proceed otherwise.

The VNC Icon will be displayed in the System Tray (next to the clock found at the bottom right hand corner of the Windows Task Bar). Double click this icon and a dialog box titled Property Page will appear. The default setting for VNC should be sufficient, you may choose to alter the Display Number to add another level of security. For the purpose of this document, choose a Display Number of 7 and a Password of HelloDeli and press OK.

Now before you are ready to allow someone to remotely access your PC you must obtain your IP address. To do this, press Start | Run from the Windows Task Bar and enter winipcfg.exe. A dialog box titled IP Configuration will appear, record the IP Address. (Let us suppose we obtained the IP 123.45.67.89)

Leave your system running and connected to the Internet/Network. Get in your car or on your bike and head to work, school or a buddy's place. Connect to the Internet/Network using another computer. Open up a Java Enabled Browser (Internet Explorer 3, Netscape 3 or higher). Enter the URL/IP you obtained from the system running the VNC Server, followed by a colon ':', followed by '5800' plus the Display Number, (ie. For our example one would enter the following URL - http://123.45.67.89:5807).

You will be asked to enter a password in order to remotely access the PC. This is where you enter your password (ie. HelloDeli). Presto! You should be able to see the desktop of the remote PC within your browser! All of you mouse (and most of your keystrokes) will be sent to your virtual PC.

You can download VNC !FREE! from the ORL site http://www.orl.co.uk/vnc/index.html. The source code for VNC is also available at the ORL site. Olivetti Research Laboratory is currently working on a Windows CE version of VNC, keep your fingers crossed...