Question I need a fairly powerful CAD/CAM computer but I would also like the portability of a laptop

[SWAGB]

Hi,
I need a fairly powerful CAD/CAM computer but I would also like the portability of a laptop (or even tablet if possible). I only need the extra processing power for CAD when I am at work but it would be great to be able to take the laptop home for general use (internet browsing, emails, movies etc.)
Basically I am wondering, if I have a desktop PC which has the processing power I need, can I remote login to the desktop PC from the laptop and utilise its processing power to do the CAD/CAM work.
Thanks in advance for any replies!
Cheers!

 

[AlHuneke]

Sure but if you are on a company network at work, you will need help from IT. They likely won't let you through the firewall. If this is a company of any size, they likely have a means to access remote desktops. Citrix is commonly used. Please describe your situation a little better.

 

[SWAGB]

Many thanks for you're response!
I work at a small business, so we actually don't have an IT department.
I just had a quick look at Citrix and it looks like the perfect solution although probably a bit overkill for what I need. Is there a more cost effective way to do this just for one computer/laptop setup?
Thanks again for taking the time to help!

 

[AlHuneke]

Yeah--Citrix is for large enterprises and is what I have used a lot. I have also used TeamViewer to help family members but I can't speak to how it would work for heavy-duty word. You can set it up for unattended operation on a remote computer (but I personally have never done that). When at work and needing to access another machine on the company network, I use MS remote desktop. That works very well. The machine you log into has to have Pro or Enterprise version of Windows installed. You have easy access to remote files, printers and sound. Works very well. You also likely have a small internal network at your business which puts your PCs behind a NAT firewall. I'm not a network guy so I'm not sure how you can get through that. I'm not certain TeamViewer will even work past the firewall (but I think it will). Citrix was what my company used because there is a high regard for security. I don't know if that is of concern to your business and I don't know if TeamView is consider secure. Search on "remote desktop" on the internet and you'll find tons of info.

 

[SWAGB]

Thanks again, very helpful!

 

[hang-the-9]

You would really need someone with networking experience to setup a secure remote desktop connection from home to the company computer. Hackers do constant searches for open systems to connect to (called probing) and if you try to do this without knowing what you are doing you can open up your company to access from outside for installing viruses/spyware/bots on the computers. Most hacks are done through secondary less secure companies and from that they hop to hacking other accounts at other places like bank accounts / Facebook / etc.. from re-used passwords.

The proper way to do a remote connection that will be open and used for a longer time is to setup a VPN between your house and the company, talk to the managers/IT department about setting that up. Then you will just have a remote desktop view to the office computer, although with some lag with the video. It will process things fast with the CPU/RAM in the office, but the video screen updates will still need to go over the remote connection, which is a lot slower than sitting at the screen in person.

Or simply ask for a workstation class laptop that is close to the power of your office computer, again the managers and whoever does IT for the company would know what to get. You will also need a VPN connection to the company to access shared files even with a laptop.

 

[SWAGB]

Appreciate the feedback, will definitely take this into consideration.