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The enterprise helpdesk looks for strong remote control performance to reduce legwork and troubleshoot client desktops. Here our testing focused on remote control telemetry, measuring the distance between guest and host by performance in transferring screen displays and keyboard/mouse controls, by access to remote disks, by ability to redirect printing and by detailing memory requirements. We also looked for settings and parameters available to fine-tune remote control and wizards or shortcuts to streamline configuration tasks. Our testing revealed that while all of the products are well-integrated with Windows, they lack in integration with enterprise management tools.

Remote control software is also used by end users, primarily telecommuters who require multiple ways to connect PCs and perform fast file transfers. For these users, our testing focused on the options for communication links between guests and hosts and file transfer capabilities. We speed-tested various file sizes (20, 60, 500, 800 and 1,000 KB) and types over modem and LAN links. Using these same files, we also tested for drag-and-drop support, folder synchronization, delta transfers and automated file transfer tasks. Overall, we found the remote control file-transfer features are more well-suited for telecommuters than for administrators who need to distribute files to end users.

To measure performance, we set up two desktop PCs: a Dell GXa PII 233-MHz with 97 MB of RAM using a Shark Multimedia 56-Kbps modem, and a Dell GX1 PIII 500-MHz with 128 MB of RAM using another Shark 56-Kbps modem. These were connected to two laptops: a Gateway Solo 3150 Celeron 333-MHz with 64 MB of RAM and an LT Win 56-Kbps modem, and a Compaq Armada 7800 PIII with 64 MB of RAM using a 7000 Series II 56-Kbps modem. Testing took place in our Syracuse University Real-World Labs®. We connected these PCs to a Novell network running IP and IPX and to dial-up links. Each product was installed on all platforms and reviewed in five categories: installation, configuration, telemetry, file transfer and management.