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Are they using the built in VNC server for remote access? Even on my LAN the performance is absolutely terrible. Using a different server doesn’t help either.
by xienze 8y ago
Are they using the built in VNC server for remote access? Even on my LAN the performance is absolutely terrible. Using a different server doesn’t help either. I’ve seen lots of folks make reference to getting GPU-accelerated VNC that dramatically improves performance if the Mini is hooked up to a monitor, but in my experience it doesn’t work. The only acceptable remote desktop solution I’ve ever found for the Mac is NoMachine.
- rootdevelop 8y agoWe use the built-in VNC server our selves at 4K resolution. All Mac Mini’s have a headless GPU enabler, which allow for a smooth, windows rdp like, experience.
- copperx 8y agoSounds almost unbelievable. I can't VNC into my Mac on my LAN without considerable lag. How are you doing that with 4k?
- rootdevelop 8y agoWe have a dummy hdmi plug connected to each Mac. That will make macOS think that there’s a screen connected which enables GPU hardware acceleration.
- ianai 8y agoWhat bandwidth/latency are required for responsive interface?
- rootdevelop 8y agoAnything above 20mbit should be fine
- ianai 8y agoThank you!
- xienze 8y agoBut that’s what I was saying originally —- I’ve heard about this trick of connecting a monitor to improve performance but I’ve never seen it make a difference. Is there something else you have to do?
- rootdevelop 8y agoI personally use Remotix for VNC, Remotix has integrated the Apple specific VNC protocol which allows for more performance, file transfers, etc.
- lloeki 8y agoAre you using the built-in macOS client? macOS screen sharing has some VNC extensions that make it usable on both wireless and WAN networks. I've been VNC'ing to my 2560x1080 work machine from home for years through a layer 2 UDP OpenVPN tunnel over WAN to great effect (connect to OpenVPN, cmd+K in Finder then vnc://10.20.30.40/). Using the now defunct Back to my Mac always was a crapshoot though (probably due to lack of port opening, therefore an intermediary has to be used)
- copperx 8y agoIs there any Linux client that implements these extensions?
- Fnoord 8y agoVNC is terribly laggy and inefficient. It's OK for LAN (not WLAN) and localhost. RDP and NX however work great (I used both SFO <-> AMS in 2005, latency is negligible), but NX is proprietary and X-only. It doesn't work on the macOS GUI server (whatever its name is, Quartz?). There's technologies based on NX when it was still FOSS. For RDP, there's xrdp which acts as glue between an X server yet utilises the RDP protocol (which should be tunnelled over a secure connection such as WireGuard or SSH). Since we're swapping out X for Wayland I'm curious what the path of remote desktop is going to be. As for this project, it isn't difficult to run macOS in a VM (or buy a 2nd hand Mac Mini) but if that's too difficult compared to the cost of setting it up this could very well be a viable alternative.
- simplyred 8y agoI think you're a little behind, we're in 2018 now ;-) and NoMachine now offers a server version for Mac and for Windows. (for access to the physical display for those who were wondering)
- mr_donk 8y agoYou need to use either the built in Mac client or something like Remotix if you’re using Windows. Every other vnc client I’ve tried performs terribly as you say.