VNC Ecosystem

VNC transports a remote framebuffer and input events using the Remote Framebuffer protocol. It is useful for isolated graphical desktops, browser-delivered sessions, and container workloads that should not receive the host’s display socket.

Servers and Virtual Displays #

Xvfb is an in-memory X server with no physical display. x11vnc shares an existing X display through VNC; it does not itself create a virtual desktop. Other VNC servers, such as TigerVNC’s Xvnc, combine an X server with a VNC endpoint. noVNC is a WebSocket-to-VNC client that lets a browser connect through a compatible proxy.

VNC authentication and encryption vary by implementation. Expose a server only through an authenticated, encrypted channel—commonly a VPN, SSH tunnel, or a gateway with TLS and access control.