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Synergy or VNC?

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BearLeeAble

BearLeeAble

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I'm needing to hookup a mac mini, pc, & nix laptop in remote desktop format.. Droid ability would be a plus but not important.



It's likely I'll be running aurora hdr, LR, ps on the mini , web dev on the *nix and day to day stuff on the pc.
I would like as high quality graphics as possible for hopefully obvious reasons.

I'm a bit confused about what synergy is offering that a traditional vnc doesn't.
Nor do I know which vnc would be the best for my situation.

Thanks in advance.
 
A few questions may be in order to help clarify.

1) Do you have a preference on which machine you want your physical KVM console connected to?

2) Your tasks on each machine seem pretty distinct. Do you specifically want a single tool to access all three systems or are you open to using whatever software to reach whichever machine?

3) Is your PC running a Home or Pro edition of Windows? Pro has the built in Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) server.

4) You may end up having to leave the *nix machine logged in to access it via VNC. Is this something you’re OK with? From my experience it looked like it might theoretically be possible to avoid this with some desktop environments but it seemed like a substantial amount of work. At least more than I was willing to put in.
 
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Doesn't Synergy need a separate monitor for each computer? And it allows the keyboard and mouse, connected to one of the computers, to work across all of them.

VNC is similar to remote Desktop, except that it doesn't use a virtual desktop. Also, does it support sound, or do you plan to feed all the computers into one audio system.

It's been many years since I've used either. I have a lot of recent experience with Remote Desktop.

You could also get an actual KVM. For a little while recently, I used a KVM for only mouse and keyboard switching, and switched video by changing inputs on my primary monitor with the monitor's buttons/menu. But, since all the computers I usually work with, other than Android, Raspberry Pi, and one Linux laptop, run Windows, I usually use Remote Desktop.
 
Billiam29 said:
A few questions may be in order to help clarify.

1) Do you have a preference on which machine you want your physical KVM console connected to?

2) Your tasks on each machine seem pretty distinct. Do you specifically want a single tool to access all three systems or are you open to using whatever software to reach whichever machine?

3) Is your PC running a Home or Pro edition of Windows? Pro has the built in Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) server.

4) You may end up having to leave the *nix machine logged in to access it via VNC. Is this something you’re OK with? From my experience it looked like it might theoretically be possible to avoid this with some desktop environments but it seemed like a substantial amount of work. At least more than I was willing to put in.
Click to expand...
1) I will be working most likely with windows 10 as my primary machine
2) I don't mind using various software, the thought is I might have each machine in its own "workspace" on my pc.
3) Im running Win10 x64 pro 1709
4) all of my machines on local so its fine for them to be logged in.

The nix is a laptop, the mac is the 2014 mac mini.

currently my windows machine is my desktop.
 
Eric Carlson said:
Doesn't Synergy need a separate monitor for each computer? And it allows the keyboard and mouse, connected to one of the computers, to work across all of them.

VNC is similar to remote Desktop, except that it doesn't use a virtual desktop. Also, does it support sound, or do you plan to feed all the computers into one audio system.

It's been many years since I've used either. I have a lot of recent experience with Remote Desktop.

You could also get an actual KVM. For a little while recently, I used a KVM for only mouse and keyboard switching, and switched video by changing inputs on my primary monitor with the monitor's buttons/menu. But, since all the computers I usually work with, other than Android, Raspberry Pi, and one Linux laptop, run Windows, I usually use Remote Desktop.
Click to expand...
 
BearLeeAble said:
Billiam29 said:
A few questions may be in order to help clarify.

1) Do you have a preference on which machine you want your physical KVM console connected to?

2) Your tasks on each machine seem pretty distinct. Do you specifically want a single tool to access all three systems or are you open to using whatever software to reach whichever machine?

3) Is your PC running a Home or Pro edition of Windows? Pro has the built in Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) server.

4) You may end up having to leave the *nix machine logged in to access it via VNC. Is this something you’re OK with? From my experience it looked like it might theoretically be possible to avoid this with some desktop environments but it seemed like a substantial amount of work. At least more than I was willing to put in.
Click to expand...
1) I will be working most likely with windows 10 as my primary machine
2) I don't mind using various software, the thought is I might have each machine in its own "workspace" on my pc.
3) Im running Win10 x64 pro 1709
4) all of my machines on local so its fine for them to be logged in.

The nix is a laptop, the mac is the 2014 mac mini.

currently my windows machine is my desktop.
Click to expand...
The one issue you may have trying to do imaging work on the Mini via remote access is color management. Is there a VNC client for Windows that is fully color managed? Does the VNC server in MacOS interfere with color management? I looked into this a tiny bit about a year ago and all I ever found were people asking these questions and similar ones.
 
BearLeeAble said:
Eric Carlson said:
Doesn't Synergy need a separate monitor for each computer? And it allows the keyboard and mouse, connected to one of the computers, to work across all of them.

VNC is similar to remote Desktop, except that it doesn't use a virtual desktop. Also, does it support sound, or do you plan to feed all the computers into one audio system.

It's been many years since I've used either. I have a lot of recent experience with Remote Desktop.

You could also get an actual KVM. For a little while recently, I used a KVM for only mouse and keyboard switching, and switched video by changing inputs on my primary monitor with the monitor's buttons/menu. But, since all the computers I usually work with, other than Android, Raspberry Pi, and one Linux laptop, run Windows, I usually use Remote Desktop.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
 
 
ok, yeah, I'd rather not do that but it is a option
 
afterburn said:
BearLeeAble said:
afterburn said:
afterburn said:
so you think synergy is the best choice?

--
Bear
Click to expand...
For what you want, yes. You have native graphics and performance with Synergy as it is just giving you control with keyboard and mouse to the second PC. It doesn't render an image of the desktop to be send over the network like VNC, which can be slow and/or color inaccurate.

--
Gijs from The Netherlands
Nikon D800/Fuji X-T1
Click to expand...
wait, if its not sending the screen then how do I see the other 2 machines? I only have one display

--
Bear
Click to expand...
Like I said in my previous message, if your screen has multiple input, you can hook both computers to the same screen and just switch input to one or the other.
Click to expand...
You use the terms "second" & "both", but the OP says he has 3, "a mac mini, pc, & nix".
Can the 3 be accommodated on a single screen in any way with Synergy?

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels.
 
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afterburn said:
lem. Things get progressively worse with 1440p or 4k/UHD.

VNC is fine for some light, quick occasional desktop work and remote server administration, but you don't want to do any serious work on it. Especially if it is photo/video editing, gaming and other highly visual stuff.
Click to expand...
 
I've used TeamViewer to remotely assist people. It has worked well those times.

Since it doesn't cost anything, I'd try VNC and TeamViewer to see which one works better for you (OP).

If it was all Windows Pro PC's then Remote Desktop would be an obvious choice, but that is not the case for you. I've worked from home via Remote Desktop via the Internet many times, and it has worked out well, and it is particularly fast on a local network with fast computers.
 
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