Re: X on a virtual server
On Tue, 2011-06-28 at 13:01 +0300, Andrei POPESCU wrote:
> On Du, 26 iun 11, 03:11:51, Eric d'Halibut wrote:
> > I'm thinking that in order to set up a remote X login to a given
> > machine, that X must be running and configured on that machine. But X
> > doesn't want to configure itself on a "virtual private server" that
> > has NO PHYSICAL VIDEO CARD, or so it seems to me at present.
> >
> > But surely all the computing horsepower I have available to me in my
> > virtual private server (to which I have of course root access) can be
> > put in the service of providing X access to that server. Am I crazy,
> > or how do I set up X for remote login on a machine with no video card,
> > or even no physical existence?
>
> Hello Eric,
>
> X seems to be reversing the meaning of 'server' and 'client', which has
> created a lot of confusion for many. To be able to understand it you
> must remember that the X server part runs on the machine with the video
> card + display + input devices and the X client can be on the same
> machine or on a remote one.
>
> To avoid confusion I will use 'remote' and 'local' machine whenever
> necessary. For your use case here are a few options with pros(+) and
> cons(-)
>
> 1. Make use of the fact that the X protocol is sever-client ;)
>
> 1a. "pure" X (with or without XDMCP)
> + remote machine needs only a few X libraries and "client" programs
> - insecure
> - not really usable over slow connections (less than 100 Mbit/s?)
>
> 1b. SSH X forwarding
> + X client machine needs only a few libraries and client programs plus
> SSH server (of course)
> + secure (tunneled via ssh)
> + very easy to setup ('ssh -X remote_machine' on a default Debian
> install)
> - even slower than pure X (additional encryption overhead), but might be
> sufficient for occasional use, even over internet
>
> 2. VNC: basically VNC transmits the pixels on a display over the wire
> and input back to the machine running X. It comes in two flavours:
>
> 2a. x11vnc: most useful to connect to an already running X session (ex.
> for remote assistance), but can be used to start a new X session
> + simple to use
> + IME more usable over slow internet connections
> - insecure (unless tunneled through SSH)
>
> 2b. VNC server: not sure how much of X this requires on the remote
> machine and can't tell you much about it (no experience), but might be a
> good option given enough compression+encryption.
>
> 3. NX: as far as I understand this enhances the pure X protocol to make
> it usable over the internet (both speed and security). Unfortunately
> it's non-free.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Andrei
For a free, open source, and maintained implementation of NX see
www.x2go.org
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