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Remote desktop based on HTML5
Click to the Future
Remotely controlling applications in the browser is nothing new – it's been possible ever since Google Apps. But, what if you want to serve up your own applications from the enterprise LAN or access your home desktop over the Internet? Terminal server technologies (like VNC and RDP) or VDI solutions (like VMware View or Citrix Xen Desktop) are the obvious choices. However, this approach typically involves installing the corresponding software client on the machine from which users want to access the remote application. If you do not trust the built-in encryption, or if none exists, you will soon see the need for a VPN client to provide encryption and authentication.
This is all very unfortunate, for example, if you are working on a computer in the hotel lobby or an Internet cafe and cannot install your own applications. For some years, "clientless SSL VPNs" have plugged this gap by providing browser-based access to remote applications over a secure HTTPS connection, without needing to install a client. However, these solutions typically impose specific requirements on the browser and plugins. Often you need Java, Flash, or ActiveX – and maybe even a specific version.
Better with HTML5
The alternative is Guacamole [1], an HTML5 web application that supports graphical access via remote desktop protocols (RDPs) directly in the browser, without the need for additional plugins. The program is licensed under the AGPLv3 and, in the current version 0.6.2, supports VNC and RDP – although with limited functionality in some cases. For example, you cannot transmit audio data or connect network drives over RDP.
On the server-side, the Java software runs on an Apache server with a servlet container (Apache Tomcat) and then acts as a proxy that translates graphical output from VNC and RDP into XML and vice versa (
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