FasterNetworkedX

FasterNetworkedX

Status

Introduction

The X11 protocol supports network (TCP) transport, allowing an application to run on one system, but have its user interface displayed on another. However, for modern applications, this requires a great deal of network bandwidth and does not scale well. Some projects are trying to improve this situation, and they should be evaluated to learn which (if any) of them should be integrated into Ubuntu.

Rationale

There are a bunch of solutions for limiting the bandwidth consumed by X. Most of those act by compressing the X protocol. This addresses only one part of the problem, namely the bandwidth consumption. Another important part is the latency one gets, such as when one is in a BOF in Australia and has one's server in Europe. A way to further reduce the bandwidth requirements is using smart caching which only transmits which actually need a reply from the server.

  • dxpc, lbx and ssh -XC don't compress well enough and do no intelligent caching.
  • VNC, even with Xdamage support and compression uses too much, no intelligent caching.
  • FreeNX is a solution which uses the Nomachine NX libraries. Feature-wise, it is fine and supports both caching, compression and latency reduction (through a server-side proxy).

Scope and Use Cases

  • Jim is out traveling and wants to have his normal environment, eg. Internet cafe
  • Regular thin clients - extra security
  • "Remote support" where a support desk controls the user's desktop remotely while talking on the phone.
  • The IT department wants a centralized server farm and decentralized terminals and branch offices. "Diskless offices".

Implementation Plan

FreeNX to be put in universe, but not in main. Wait for better alternatives with regards to code quality to be released by upstream (or another upstream).

Data Preservation and Migration

N/A

Packages Affected

  • freenx, put in universe, but do not, repeat do not, put in main. It is probably not ok security-wise, being a bunch of shell scripts. A review of the authentication system is probably also in order before it being added. The package itself is frequently requested by users.
  • tsclient - add support for connecting to NX servers
  • knx - KDE klient for the FreeNX server

User Interface Requirements

Satisfied by kNX and tsclient

Outstanding Issues

A sane replacement for both the NX libraries and the FreeNX server.

UDU BOF Agenda

UDU Pre-Work

FreeNX on ubuntu wiki

CategoryUdu CategorySpec

UbuntuDownUnder/BOFs/FasterNetworkedX (last edited 2008-08-06 16:13:36 by localhost)