NX NoMachine
NX is with X11 collaborative remote desktop - Software of the Italian company NoMachine . With X11 you can transfer the screen contents of a remote computer to a local computer (also across operating systems ) and work with it as if you were sitting directly in front of it (see Thin Client ).
program
NX is intended to increase the transmission speed (response time and data throughput) of the X Window System , usually under Unix and Linux , when displaying graphic applications over computer networks . This is particularly interesting for connections with a low bandwidth, such as modems or ISDN . NX is connected as a proxy system between the X11 partners.
Encryption via SSH is possible.
In addition, the NX server can also forward sessions to VNC servers or Windows terminal servers (via RDP ) and compress the data traffic again. The NX client asks an NX server, which then establishes the connection to another terminal server via VNC or RDP. It is therefore interposed [NX client → NX server → RDP / VNC server] and thus the RDP / VNC data flow is compressed.
The NX client runs on Linux, Solaris , Windows , macOS , Sharp Zaurus , Sony PlayStation 2 , and HP / Compaq iPAQ .
technology
NX achieves an increase in the efficiency of the X11 protocol over the network primarily through three methods:
- Creation of a cache for already transferred data
- Data compression of network traffic
- Reduction of the round trip time between X client and X server
Many "round trips" are unnecessary and are partly caused by inefficient programming of X11 application programs. An efficient cache saves the repeated transfer of the same data blocks (for example icons in program menu bars ). The strong compression further reduces the data traffic.
NX uses an SSH tunnel to transfer the data.
Distribution and development under open source
The basic libraries and all important core components of NX have been placed under the free GPL license by NoMachine , which is why they can also be integrated into free desktops such as KDE and Gnome . Only the central client and server applications are proprietary.
A client application called kNX already exists for KDE , which was written by the Kalyxo project together with the also free NX server FreeNX . But kNX can also be used with GNOME and other desktops.
Notably the FreeNX server to perfect as Bash - shell script was written. Because its programmers wanted to prove that a free NX server based on the GPL-licensed components of NX would not pose any great technical difficulty, this scripting language was chosen.
Since around July 2009 there has been a new, free version of the server called Neatx , which was initially developed as an internal project, which in April 2010 did not yet master all functions of the original. The project was completed in 2012 and the sources were released. It is no longer actively developed.
application
With NX, it is possible that the administrator of a network takes over the control of the computer of an employee to fix software to install or errors. Further application examples are, for example, home offices or the possibility of older computers that are used as thin clients to work on remote, more powerful machines.
NX enables you to work quickly even with a modem connection with a data transfer rate of only 40 kBit / s .
Another big advantage of NX over the pure X11 protocol is that NX supports so-called seamless connections , i.e. H. an existing connection to an NX server can be disconnected and later resumed from another computer. The started programs continue to run on the target system undisturbed.
See also
Web links
- http://www.nomachine.com
- http://freenx.berlios.de
- http://code.google.com/p/neatx/
- "NX - Turbocharger for Linux and Windows Terminal Servers" - Article at Pro-Linux