Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) is a Macintosh application produced by Apple Computer, first released on March 14 2002, that replaced a similar product called Apple Network Assistant. Aimed at computer administrators responsible for large numbers of computers and teachers who need to assist individuals or perform group demonstrations, Apple Remote Desktop allows users to remotely control or monitor other computers over a network.

The original release, which used the UDP protocol on port 3283, allowed remote computers (running Mac OS 8.1 or later) to be observed or controlled from a computer running Mac OS X. It also allowed remote computers to be restarted or shutdown, to have their screens locked or unlocked, or be put to sleep or woken up, all remotely. Version 1 also included simple file transfer abilities that would allow administrators to install simple applications remotely, however to install applications that required the use of an installer the administrator would have to run the installer manually through the client system's interface.

Version 1.1 (released August 20 2002) introduced the ability to schedule remote tasks.

Version 1.2 (released April 2 2003) added a number of features that were designed to ease administration of large number of computers. Software could now be installed remotely on a number of machines simultaneously, without using the client system's interface. The startup disk on remote computers can also be changed; setting them to boot from a NetBoot server, a Network Install image or a partition on their own drives. The client ARD software could also now be upgraded remotely to allow administrators to take advantage of new features without having to visit each individual computer.

Apple released a minor update on December 16 2003 that brought ARD to 1.2.4. This update concentrated on security, performance and reliability.

On June 21 2004 Apple announced Apple Remote Desktop 2 (released in July), which was designed to use the VNC protocol instead of Apple's original ARD protocol. This allows the ARD administration software to observe and control any computer running VNC-compatible server software (such as Windows and Unix systems) not just Macs and conversely allowing standard VNC viewing software to connect to any Mac with the ARD 2 client installed and VNC access enabled. This version also uses the TCP protocol for most functions (on ports 3283, 5900 and 5988), which is designed to be more reliable that the UDP protocol used in ARD 1. Another significant addition to ARD 2 was the Task List, that allows remote tasks to be queued and monitored, reporting their status (such as Succeeded or Failed). This release also dropped support for older versions of the Mac OS, requiring 10.2.8 or higher.

On October 11 2004 Apple released version 2.1 which improved on a number of existing features while adding the ability to view observed or controlled computers in full screen, the ability to see the displays of computers with more than one monitor and support for mouse right-click and scroll-wheels.

Encryption

ARD only encrypts passwords, mouse events and keystrokes, not the desktop graphics (and file transfers). Apple therefore recommends that users tunnel ARD traffic that is crossing a public network through a VPN, if they want to avoid the possibility of someone eavesdropping on their desktop during ARD sessions. [1]

See also

• Terminal Services

External links

• Apple Remote Desktop