Product Reviews

Desktop administration is often a headache for companies or educational establishments with a large number of Macs.

There are a number of solutions aimed at simplifying the day-to-day housekeeping tasks involved in the running of a computer lab, but all have their faults. Some, such as Timbuktu, are too expensive for education to license; others, such as MacAdministrator, are Mac-only solutions. Some are only available as part of a server product - for example, Apple Network Assistant is part of the AppleShare IP Suite. With the release of Apple Remote Desktop 1.0.1, Apple is trying to solve two of these problems.

Remote Desktop is aimed mainly at educational establishments running labs full of iMacs connected to an Ethernet network.

The software runs on the standard client-server model. All the software comes on one CD that contains installers for both the Server software, which only runs on Mac OS X, and the Remote Desktop Security client software, which runs on anything higher than Mac OS 8.1.

Apple Remote Desktop can be used to manage up to 10 Macs with the 10-client edition, but Apple claims the unlimited client edition can to control up to 5000 Macs at once, and can be installed on an unlimited number of machines.

You install a Server application on at least one machine, and client software on all the others on the network. Having installed the software, each client must be enabled individually through the control application. This enables each user to decide how much remote control they want to hand over to the network administrator.

Keep control

Unlike other remote control applications, the 'Remote' in 'Remote Desktop' is fairly narrow in definition. It doesn't mean 'at the other end of a telephone connection' (while it does support AirPort networks, there's no direct dial-up support). It doesn't mean 'over an AppleTalk network', as client connections are via TCP/IP only.

It probably isn't even meant to include 'via an Internet router', as the manual goes to some lengths to stress that this may lead to poor-quality connections. (Like other remote control applications Apple has picked a specific high-level port for client communication, in Apple Remote Desktop's case port 3283.) This means you can't use it to fix a friend's iMac via a modem connection, or use it to log in remotely to the company's network server.

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That said, what it does do, it does very well.

When you first fire up the Server application, you're asked to build a list of computers that you want to control. You can do this using a simple IP search of the local network by specifying the single, static IP address of a machine you know you want access to, or through a range of IP addresses.

After you've built your list, you're shown the Computer Status list. To control machines in the list, you need to log in as an administrator through an OS X 'Click lock' button, using the default administrator password.

Once you've logged in and set the correct access privileges on your client machines, the machines on your local network are yours to command. You can define access privileges for multiple different administrators on the same machine. You can also restart, shut down, send to sleep and wake up remote machines.

You also have the ability to observe the screens of up to four users at a time, control their mice and keyboards, chat to them using a text interface and even install and configure software. Your screen can be displayed on all the Macs in the lab, which is great for demonstrations, and you can even choose to display another machine's screen to everyone else (good news for teacher's pet, bad news for the class clown).

Despite its obvious teaching applications, Remote Desktop is definitely designed as the lab technician's friend. It includes the ability to copy entire hard disk images around, for example, for resetting machines at the end of the week, or term, and has screen locking, so that carefully set up machines can't be tinkered with before a class starts.

Lots to report

For long-term use, a complete suite of semi-interactive reports lets you do bulk enquiries for a list of machines. For example, you can compare application versions, search out which fonts are missing on which machine and produce a system information report - a sort of network-wide Apple Profiler. There are two hard disk reports (for devices, size, free, space and drive verification), a network performance reports, and an admin access report to see who has opted out of the whole process.

As an application, it has all the hallmarks of an OS X thoroughbred, including a customisable toolbar and great ease of use.

There are a few issues with Apple Remote Desktop that prevent it from getting top marks. There is a lack of support for connections over telephone lines and for AppleTalk. It is also a Mac-only solution, which means that cross-platform sites will have to invest in yet more software for their PCs.

In terms of pricing, Remote Desktop is quite reasonable: the 10-user licence costs £249, while the unlimited user licence is priced at £429. In contrast, a 10-user licence for Timbuktu, which provides 'proper' remote access to both Macs and PCs, is £589, so although Remote Desktop isn't exactly a giveaway, it's keenly priced and definitely worth a look.