One of the topics that falls under network administration is that of remote administration. The benefits of being able to use various technologies to remotely administer workstations and servers are numerous. The benefits of such tools include a decrease in time and cost associated with administering a network.

For example, if an organization has remote sites, a network administrator does not necessarily have to visit the location to troubleshoot technical problems. Instead some of the troubleshooting can be done remotely. Vista includes two technologies that can be used for remote administration: remote assistance and remote desktop for administration.

Overview of Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop in Vista
Remote Assistance is a tool included with Vista that enables you to remotely assist users with computer problems. Using remote assistance, the expert or assistant can remotely view a user’s desktop and even remotely take control of a desktop if permission has been granted. To send remote assistance invitations from a computer running Vista, remote assistance must be enabled using the Remote tab from the System Properties dialog box.

Another technology used for remote administration is known as Remote Desktop. When this functionality is enabled in Vista, you can remotely connect to the computer and perform administrative tasks. The obvious benefit is that you do not need to be physically seated at a computer in order to administer it. This in turn can save you time and money.

In Part II of this installment, we’ll begin looking more closely at some of the tips and tricks you can use with remote administration.

[tags]remote administration, vista, windows[/tags]