Incomplete. Non-functional. Come back later.
Self Hosted Remote Desktop (SHRD for short) is an open-source remote desktop system I am developing with the goal of reducing my dependence on TeamViewer or similar third-party hosted services for remote computer access.
| SHRD | TeamViewer | VNC | MeshCentral | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free version available | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free for commercial use | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Open Source | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Easy host deployment for technologically-challenged users (no firewall modifications) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ Must load a complex web URL |
| Remotely access many operating systems | Windows 8+ only | ✅ Cross-Platform | ✅ Cross-Platform | ✅ Cross-Platform |
| Run your own centralized server | ✅ Windows or Linux | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Cross-Platform |
| Use without a centralized server (direct connections) | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Peer-to-peer connections for minimal latency | ❌ (eventually) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Web client | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Native clients | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Unlimited concurrent sessions | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Remote audio | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Of course, the above table is a little unfair because TeamViewer has had years of professional (paid) development and has amassed many features I do not care about, such as remote printing.
Update 2020-11-19: I've discovered MeshCentral, an impressive application that shares most of the goals of this project, but is much more ambitious (and actually usable).
SHRD has two major components: The Host Service and the Master Server.
SHRD's Host Service is the program which runs on each computer that is to be remotely accessed. Each Host Service maintains a TCP connection to the Master Server, which enables two-way communication through firewalls.
Initially only Windows 8 and 10 will be supported. Most of the responsibilities of a Host Service involve accessing operating system APIs for desktop video capture and keyboard/mouse emulation, so it is not easy to make this cross-platform.
SHRD's Master Server is being designed to be lightweight and cross-platform using the Mono framework, so it can be run on an inexpensive cloud server or even a Raspberry Pi. It requires only one TCP port to be open to the outside world, for HTTPS traffic (typically port 443). A reverse-proxy server like nginx will be compatible, but not required.
The Master Server provides an HTML5 web client for remote access of connected computers. Native clients are a possibility for the future, even without significant modification to the Master Server code. The Master Server also provides an administrative web interface for user and computer management.
This is a bit silly, but I built a diagram illustrating the basic architecture of Self Hosted Remote Desktop. Essentially, SHRD's Master Server is intended to fill the roles of a cloud remote desktop service provider, on a much smaller scale.
This solution is only tested with Visual Studio 2017 Community Edition. To build, you will also need my general-purpose utility project, BPUtil. Full compatibility with said utility project is not guaranteed, since I often don't check in its changes in a timely manner.