Remote computing is no longer the realm of IT professionals. The democratisation of the software has made it accessible to everyone. If you’re new to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) clients or you’re thinking about using them, here are a few good reasons why you should.
Costs
A lot of Remote Desktop software available now comes in the form of free apps from the App Store or Google Play; useful if you are planning on working remotely from mobile device. Sites like LogMeIn and TeamViewer also offer freeware for your PC that allows you to access files and programs on another computer’s hard drive. Compare this with a $9.99 monthly rate for 200GB of space on Google Drive and the same price-plan for 100GB with Dropbox, and you’ll see that remote access can be as money-saving as it is useful. If you already have a 1TB drive with all your files and applications on it (and plenty of room to spare), why pay extra to rent out more virtual space?
Use Your Programs
The main advantage of using a remote access client is having access to not only your files but your programs too. If you want to work remotely from home, for example, the painstaking process of installing all the applications you usually use on your work PC can be an impractical option. Remote access tools like Ericom’s browser based RDP client allow end-users to access specific programs as well as virtualize their entire desktop. You will be able to use Photoshop or Illustrator, PowerPoint or Excel, and even games. It’s particularly useful for devices like Chromebooks which are only supposed to run web apps.
Dropbox Uploading times
Once Dropbox has synced all the files you need to backup with the cloud, adding a new file doesn’t seem like too much of a chore. But that initial step is incredibly time-consuming. Upload speeds are generally painfully slow on most home and business internet connections so it can take days for Dropbox to sync all your files, especially if we’re talking about large photo files. It’s best to cut out this step in the first place and back up the files on your office computer, say, then use your laptop or tablet to access them with an RDP.
Google Drive Problems
Since remote access software is often associated with accessing crucial files on-the-go, many have suggested Google Drive as a competitor for remote access software. But RDPs do so much more than that and they do it better than cloud storage. Drive has the drawback of being a little bit ‘buggy’. There are many accounts of people losing data and of files refusing to sync or not appearing in the Drive web app.
Help a Technophobe
With free remote access software you can now be the knight in shining armor among your computer illiterate friends and family. If you are computer savvy, you can remotely control a computer to help someone with an installation problem or show them how to complete a particular action in a program. You could show a friend how to do something as complex as use layer masks in photos or as simple as sending an email. It’s really up to you.