[Thermodyne]

I use TightVNC almost every day at work. And it is not all that. It beats driving 100's of miles, but it can be a pain. And this is arcoss a private WAN. Across the internet it is not as good, and very exploitable. Also, VPN will not support VNC, so everything you access is out in the open and subject to interception. Also, you must leave the system up, if it goes to sleep, VPN will not wake it unless wake on LAN is on, but this allows anyone to wake it. You also need to open the firewall for VNC, which gives any ole person the same access. They sniff your VPN password, and they are in your system.

IMHO, you should set up IIS and put the things yuo need into a private web site. Then use https: and password authentication. Better yet, you uni peeps should pick up a copy of Small Business Server on the cheap uni price. Put it on an old box and use the MS Share Point Site that comes pre-installed. Also, you can log into SBS remotely with the VPN and a cert, and drive it from a true remote desk top.