An Idea for Admins

Admin Ecstasy

I had another of my clever ideas. Yes, quite fantastic if I do say so myself. I do say so myself, but these ideas have got to have quite a bit of merit because as fun as they sound, they've got to appeal to others about as much as for me.

Right now there are three technologies working separately from themselves. The first is Dual (or multi) Monitor support on a single PC. The second is Remote Desktop (or terminal services). Lastly, but not leastly, the technology developed by Stardock software which allows you to connect several computers to a single workstation, letting you control each computer (which still has its own monitor) as if you were controlling just a single one with multi-monitor support. This is called Multiplicity and is a very cool idea that, lets you take advantage of having more computer hardware to run power-hungry applications or games by running each on a separate workstation, but letting you control it from one keyboard and mouse.

Huh? Ok, you have several pcs on one desk; all the monitors are in front of you side by side; and you sit in the middle controlling whats happening on each computer from the one in front of you....; you move your mouse over to another monitor and voila, you're controlling another computer seamlessly.

Back to the point now. What your ultimate ADMIN setup would consist of in theory is the combination of these ideas to always have a handle on the computers you are keeping care of. Let me describe..

Describing Ecstasy

You have a single computer in front of you. You might have multiple monitors connected to it. Lets say Mary has a serious problem with something on her computer down the hall. Mary's computer is still connected to the network, and ..did we say her computer is accessible through yours? Yeah. You simply look over onto another monitor that shows her computer. You move over to it and make it full screen...or maybe even move it to the primary monitor for seeing better. You press a key to gain full control (so as to not bother that computer while you monitor it), then you take over find the problem and address it in no time flat. Lets say Joe Schmoe in the office next to you is looking through his junk email and is about to open an attachment that you know might not be safe. In most circumstances you wouldn't have known until he came cryin' to you about his computer actin' up. Now...with his computer being monitored constantly on one of your monitors, you simply watch him as he's opening the message and then you butt in just before he clicks yes on the "Are you sure you want to open this potentially unsafe attachment?" window. You could pop up a little chat...or maybe even have a direct voice connection to the pc and talk to him about it.

Now doesn't that sound great? I know it can happen. Its just a matter of time. Just think though, what if you want to do it from your notebook pc or don't have multiple monitors? Well there could be a feature that could use a hot-key to switch back and forth between the other computers and yours, or when you move your mouse over to the edge of your screen it would switch to theirs (like a desktop manager).

The Big Idea..

I'll tell you how I think this can be achieved now. First, you get a Terminal Services/Remote Desktop application to be a bit modified. Make it secure, and make it so that it supports constant monitoring, yet quick re-activation if you decide to let that particular one "sleep" while you make better use of your network bandwidth. Make it so you can have control over several systems all at once. Make it so that it has hot-key support and screen-edge support for single monitor systems, and full-screen support for those multi-monitor admin gurus. Make it FREE, and make it work over the internet and through any firewall....and voila! Its an IT dream. Oh yea, don't forget to make it easy to configure because if its not, then its another IT headache and we don't want that.

So who's up for it? Any takers to the challenge? Right. It'll probably be me, and if any of these fancy ideas actually get developed by myself, I'm probably going to end up world-famous and possibly quit writing in my blog because that would give the world too much insight into the mind of the now famous Jason Cramer. Well...I dunno. We'll see about that.