When some new users want to register themselves with a Virtual Private Network provider, they need to be fully aware of the advantages it offers. Some people are unaware of the differences between a Remote Desktop connection and a VPN service, and often confuse them as one and the same thing.

But this is far from the truth; the two technologies are as far apart as cheese and butter. Online forums are often attempting to help people distinguish between the two. In this post we will attempt to clear any confusion between these technologies.

What is a Remote Desktop?

A Remote Desktop connection allows you to take control of a computer not lying in front of you. To explain the concept with a simple example, consider the case of a man living in a different city as his parents. To locate the photographs of their anniversary that are lying on his old computer hard disk or to resolve a small issue with the PC, his parents need help. By using Remote Desktop connection, the man can take over the control of the PC in his parent’s house by simply using his laptop from hundreds of miles away. In this way he can help them with whatever problem they are facing with the home computer, without them having to wait for his annual vacations when he visits them. A Remote Desktop connection is a basic device to device connection and often requires additional software that provides a GUI interface for you to take over a remote device.

What is a Virtual Private Network?

A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a secure network that cannot be accessed by outsiders. In simple words, a VPN allows a user to securely use an encrypted network tunnel for connecting to a LAN or WiFi internet connection. A VPN connection is more universal in its nature and allows more than one devices to connect to a server simultaneously.

Differences between Virtual Private Network and Remote Desktop connection

It is important to point out that the two services do not perform the same function. To establish a Remote Desktop connection with another PC, you will still be first required to logon to the internet, possibly using a VPN connection. Other important differences between the two technologies are discussed below:

Resource sharing

VPN connection allows the user to access the remote LAN but it does not give the user complete access to any remote computer. There is almost no resource sharing possible with a VPN connection. Remote Desktop connections on the other hand are very useful in the case of remote file transfer and accessing remote files on another computer.

Firewalls

Firewalls of a local network have to be reconfigured when you setup a new VPN connection. Remote Desktop connections, on the other hand, do not generally require many changes to be made to your system firewall settings. So in terms of configurability, a Remote Desktop connection is much easier to setup than a VPN.

Mike tory loves to write about VPN serivce. You can check out Android VPN providers at countriesvpn.com.