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  4. Hiding slave machines in cupboard - what's best way to see the screens?

  • Hiding slave machines in cupboard - what's best way to see the screens?

    Q
    Q
    Is it possible to put my slave machine(s) away in a cupboard, still connected to the ethernet vienna system, but still be able to access the stuff on the slave machine/ I mean how do you all do it? Or must I have a dedicated monitor available to view in my control room so i can see the slave machine contents? Al
  • M
    M

    Use Remote Desktop or VNC. You can see and control the slave machines from your main machine using either of these solutions. Remote Desktop is the best provided the OS software on your slaves supports it.

    HTH,

    M
  • N
    N

    Dear qbaser,

    Mosso's response is correct and will afford you most flexibility.  Another option (less flexible and ultimately more expensive) that is worth mentioning for the sake of completeness is to use a KVM (keyboard-video-mouse) switch.  It allows you to switch the monitor, keyboard and mouse from one set of inputs (i.e. one machine) to another.

    The consideration is that VNC and RDP (remote desktop) are applications that provide TCP/IP access.  Therefore your operating system and the vnc/rdp server side stuff must be running in order to be able to see what is going on on that server.  Therefore if, for example, you have a problem with BIOS, your O/S does not boot up correctly or your network setup is not properly configured you will be unable to see what is going on and diagnose it without moving a monitor, keyboard and mouse near to your cupboard.

    I'm not suggesting that KVM is better than VNC/RDP - for most practical purposes it is not (and it is certainly not as cheap).  However, it is worth informing you of the limitations of vnc/rdp, even if you ultimately decide they don't matter!  Hope this helps.

    Kind Regards,

    Nick.
  • Q
    Q
    Thank you Martin and Nick, very very informative and complete response there. I'll look at both options now, although the KVM does look like the best option even if there is a little more outlay. Just readying the way for VE Pro 5 where I hope I will be able to use my slave machine to run power hungry plugins as a pure FX rack machine. Thanks gents for your advice. Al
  • Q
    Q
    Just looking into this further. Is the Desktop remote the same functionality as Air Display which, the latter I have seen working? Is it just another branding of the same functionality or does Desktop remote do more? Ive seen with Air Display you must drag over the window from the slave machine onto your current workspace? Al
  • M
    M

    Hi Al,

    With RDC (Remote Desktop Connection) & VNC an application window opens on the screen of your master machine showing you the desktop of the slave machine. You can use the mouse and keyboard of your master machine within this window to control the slave machine. I would illustrate this with a screenshot but I'm away from the studio right now - I'll post one later.

    Nick's message about the limitations of RDC/VNC are worth bearing in mind. I used to use a KVM switch (and I kept it in case RDC stops working), but after quite a few years working with RDC it's been proven to be very stable for me. In any case you will need to connect the slave computer to a monitor/keyboard/mouse at least once in order to setup up the RDC/VNC server.

    As I understand it Air Display is a way to extend your desktop onto a extra device wirelessly but at no time is it possible to control the extra device - you just make use of it's display. If this is true the functionality is not the same at all.

    HTH,

    M