The client and server components compress X traffic for transmission over the network to provide a responsive connection to users connecting across the Internet. All network communication takes place over SSL-encrypted links. To run NX Server on a Linux server, you must be running an SSH daemon, as NX uses SSH remote execution facilities. Of course, the company has to keep costs down because alternative products, like LTSP, are free, but the NX products offer advantages worth paying for. For a product of this scope, that’s nearly free. The server costs €54.50, €124.50, or €494.50, depending on the edition, per server, with no per-client-connection costs. And the price is right - NX Client is free. The range of client platforms is even wider, including all those Linux systems plus Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP, iPaq and Zaurus 5xxx handhelds, and even PlayStation 2.

NoMachine has server editions for personal, small business, and enterprise use on Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian, and United Linux. NoMachine excels in the breadth of platforms it supports. The clients themselves can be dedicated hardware devices or regular computers running thin client software. Thin clients help contain costs by eliminating the need to install applications at each user’s desktop, and improve security by limiting the availability of applications and data. NX Client works something like VNC (see our recent story), but instead of using Remote Frame Buffer protocol, NX Client acts as an X Window server. Thin client computing lets users run applications on a remote server and display the results locally. Organizations deploying Linux client/server applications, as well as those considering moving their desktops to Linux, will find NoMachine’s NX software an elegant, cost-effective alternative that’s easy to implement. NoMachine’s NX Server and NX Client let you use the same client software on both Windows and Linux machines. Rome-based NoMachine is now offering thin client computing with a new twist. Linux naturally lends itself to thin client computing - it’s easy to boot remote workstations off a Linux server with software as basic as an X Window server or as useful as the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP).

Nxclient for windows