Originally Posted by
tjspiel
A remote connection is an OK solution for some work but not others, - probably not graphic intensive work which is what the OP is doing. I carry a laptop as well and while I wouldn't want to haul something like the OP's system around, I much prefer working locally on most of the stuff I do.
I'm thankful for the ability to access systems remotely, it has saved me a trip into the office on several occasions but even with modern broadband it is not quite the same a being there. To me it doesn't make much sense to pay for the performance of a high end system only to have it hobbled by running the interface through broadband.
Remote Desktop is a thing of beauty. You retain the performance of your machine as all the processing occurs there and the network connection has little to do with it. All that happens over the network is sending commands and receiving screen updates. You're just seeing a picture of what's happening on your office machine and if you have a fast connection it's virtually indistinguishable from a local session. I agree that high end graphics and video might suffer from compressed graphic rendering but performance is all there.
Generally speaking (unless you have some truly super-sensitive data), you don't even need a vpn as no data files are going across the network. Instead of VPN, you just need a firewall rule set at your office to direct RD connections from your home machine's public IP to your desktop/laptop computer at work. If security is an issue, encrypt your laptop using Bitlocker so, if it's lost, the only concern is replacing the hardware.
Anyhow, if the OP's employer requires him to carry the laptop I guess he has to carry the laptop and I don't suppose they'd be down with replacing the HD. It's not really necessary if the machine is shut down (as it should be) before packing it up. If it was me I'd get a large waterproof pannier, throw in some padding and use that bag only for the laptop. Most damage is to the screen comes from having it squished by hard, small objects. Pencil sharpeners between books and laptops are screen crackers.