Remote administration nowadays is more important than ever, so let’s deepen our understanding of the subject. Although we already have a detailed post about remote PC access and its management in the blog, that article mainly describes technical support and monitoring tools, such as Kickidler, TeamViewer, and Ammyy Admin.
Today we are focusing on the more administrative side of the question – using a browser, RDP, and SSH for remote administration in a local network, via the Internet, including mixed networks.
Remote administration through a web browser, the HTTP protocol
By using the browser you can:
- Connect to server and router management snap-ins, configure rules for individual users and IP, check network activity, etc.;
- Manage the computer remotely using special extensions. For example, Chrome Remote Desktop is essentially the same as Kickidler Remote Desktop.
You can also manage your corporate website, databases and other similar resources through the browser.
Remote administration with SSH
SSH is a cryptographic network protocol that creates a secure client/server communication channel. All you need to do is install SSH-server on a remote system, which will give you the option to have an encrypted access to it at any moment through clients like PuTTY and WinSCP.
SSH is most often used for secure transmission of large amounts of data or for remote work on a computer (usually using Linux operating system). Most of the times it is done via a command-line interface.
Remote administration through RDP
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) is a standard Windows snap-in for remote administration. Generally, RDP refers to the Remote Desktop that’s built into the operating system. You simply assign static IP-address to the computer that will be managed remotely and enable the connections in the “Remote access settings” section.
Regarding the limitations. You can’t log into the same user account from more than one computer. However, several employees can work simultaneously on the same machine without interfering with each other – you simply create different user accounts for each of them.
Why you probably don’t need any of these three options
All the above-mentioned solutions will suit system administrators, but if you are a supervisor who wants to monitor the work of your employees, including those who work remotely, then these solutions aren’t exactly what you need. SSH access, browser and RDP are mainly solutions for everyday remote work or hardware administration – server setup, software updates, etc. At the same time, being a supervisor, you typically:
- Don’t need access to network control panels or servers; that’s what a system administrator is for;
- Don’t want to bother with the command-line interface; instead, you need a user-friendly graphical interface;
- Prefer to monitor your employees without interrupting their workflow;
- Have employees who don’t work in the same network, with some of them working remotely.
All of these four tasks are solved not through remote administration, but rather via technical support and monitoring software. Kickidler employee monitoring software provides you with all the tools you need to supervise your employees – even remotely – or to connect to a remote desktop and to remotely manage a computer.
In addition, Kickidler employee monitoring software allows you to:
- Track working time automatically.
- Analyze employees’ productivity at their computers.
- Record the history of computer activity on video.
- Monitor keystrokes.
- Identify work schedule violations.
- Receive automatic notifications about violations.