Develope a remote desktop connection tool

[John Fell]

Hi

Does any1 know what is involved in developing a remote desktop type connection tool.
Firstly the language?
Secondly what are the various technologies that will be used?
Thirdly, how long would it take for someone (or a group) to develop one from scratch.

The reason I am asking is because my company has asked me to cost a project like this. For a 3 man IT department of an Insurance company I know this is a huge task but would like for the sake of thoroughness be as acurate as possible in my assesment.

JJ
VB 6/.Net Developer

[Hack]

Moved to General Developer

[bgmacaw]

Given that there are already well tested commercial products like Citrix, VPN, Terminal Services and so forth already available it would be a waste of internal programming resources to try to reinvent this wheel.

[RobDog888]

If you are running Windows 2000 or greater you can use the Remote Desktop Connection tool that is built in with Windows XP and above and is a download add in for 2000 Pro.

[KMDcomp]

There are so many ways to do this already, it's doubtful a new method would be much better then the rest. I use the same thing my bank does, 128 bit ssl and common sense when it comes to website design.

Most companies could implement a very secure system for less then $2k US including equipment, software, and IT labor. Assuming everything had to be bought at retail.

I would also suggest that most companies already have the equipment laying around and maybe even a spare XP, 2k, or 2003 server licenses somewhere which would further cut costs.

If you want to get really cheap, I can get a P4 HT 3GHz comp with half a gig of ram for $250 US. Pick from a couple dozen Linux programs and distro combos and you are set. BTW my Linux skills are not much past what someone could pick in about a week of dedicated study. I know enough to load a distro and install software and follow directions given to me by Linux veterans.