How many machines are you servicing? Dameware is reasonably priced if it's just for a few users. http://www.dameware.com/
>Licensing > >DameWare Mini Remote Control is licensed per user, not per computer, with no additional fees for client agents installed by the program. The number of licenses required must correspond with the actual number of people that use the software. For example, if there are 10 technicians that will be running the software and connecting to 10,000 remote machines, a 10-user license is required. > >Each user license allows for three separate installations (for example: desktop, laptop, and home computer). A user installing in three separate locations will still be covered under the license provided that they are the only person running the software on those additional machines.
dameware remote support.
~300 per administrator and offers remote support like gotoassist with your own onsite server. It is perpetual or you can purchase maintenance for $62 per user per year which will get you upgrades. Probably the cheapest you can get. Unattended locally or though the vpn, token based when not directly connected to your network (need to provide the end user with a code, similar to teamviewer or webex).
http://www.dameware.com/dameware-central-server/internet-sessions.aspx
You might want to take a look at PDQ Deploy. This software works well for remote installs and managing software. If you want to be able to remote into each system and do the installs/scans manually you might want to take a look at DameWare.
PDQ - http://www.adminarsenal.com/pdq-deploy - has a free feature limited version
DameWare - http://www.dameware.com/ - Has a free trial 14 day
Note: I am a Product Manager for SolarWinds, but we offer a ton of free tools, many of which are for Sysadmins which you can find here
I know this post is for freeware, but we also have our DameWare product, which are dang near close to free if you look at the pricing for remote control and remote machine management, see here
Remote Desktop, if it was enabled. Or you could install something like Dameware. They have a free trial copy available. It can remotely install itself onto the target. http://www.dameware.com/downloads.aspx
I use Goverlan Remote Control found here http://www.goverlan.com/ as my main software at work. I also used Damware Mini Remote Control before and it works well, found here http://www.dameware.com/products/mini-remote-control/product-overview.aspx
Without allowing RDP into the guests that's going to be difficult. RDP really is your best solution. It's worth making the case for. There shouldn't be a security concern if it's managed properly and it sounds like your environment is run pretty tight.
If RDP is absolutely not a possibility there are a couple of other options you might investigate:
The vSphere Web Client allows for accessing the console. It works very well. We've been moving our VM owners away from the desktop client and over to this. A quick packet capture suggests that it connects directly to the ESX host without tunneling through vCenter. I can't be sure but I think your vCenter license entitles you to any number of web client instances. The major caveat is that it probably requires vCenter 5.
Install an alternative remote client on the guest. Something like Dameware would likely work well. I haven't used it myself since the Windows 2000 days but as I recall it was top notch. VNC would work as well but I'd consider it more of a last resort personally.
Windows Only: Dameware Mini Remote Control works really well, and is really simple and cheap licensing.
Teamviewer works with pretty much everything, kinda costly but iirc is a one time fee.
One (or more) of the logmein accounts might also be able to accomplish everything but has a monthly fee.
Edit: almost forgot: then you can do it yourself with remote desktop, a gpo to force it on at all your computers and a vpn (openvpn/ms pptp)to connect you to all their networks.
I used dameware at previous companies and really liked it. It will query your AD infrastructure to display computers you can connect to. There is no need to install a client if you don't want to as it will automatically install on the first attempt you make to connect to the machine (assuming you have admin rights).
Dameware also has a bunch of other information you can gather from machines as well.
They got bought out by solarwinds which is unfortunate. But they do offer a free trial so it cant hurt. http://www.dameware.com/
IT Support, I use Dameware NT Utilities, it has so many great functions including remote control and hands down beats the competition.
Of course my company gives me a hard time everytime I try to get a new version, and I have to write a 4 page memo justifying it, but it's worth it.
I never tried it, but one of the features is "Over-the-Internet Remote Control Sessions – No VPN Required"
http://www.dameware.com/dameware-central-server/internet-sessions.aspx
And yes you should be able to deploy it on non-domain computers if you have local admin credentials of the target computer.
> no agents required etc
Unless this is a new feature, there is a DW agent. It is installed on the fly. That said, DW is amazing for remote support and they offer outside firewall access via their proxy package.
Look into Dameware. Solarwinds bought them not to long ago. You can run a software report on each server. It will give you a list of all programs installed.
Dameware. Remote Support for Windows, Linux, and Mac clients. Lots of great built in features, worth it for the simple file transfer feature. The cost is small once you realize how powerful it is.
Your first time gig as a sysadmin can be nerve racking, but it can also be fun and exciting. I spent 5 years as a sysadmin and another 10 years as a network manager. I've since moved on and joined SolarWinds as a Product Manager, so I've been around the IT block a couple of times.
I'll try and answer your questions in order.
I'm somewhat partial to Dameware myself http://www.dameware.com/products/mini-remote-control/product-overview. It's easy to use, inexpensive, and just plain works.
Microsoft's licensing page contains quite a bit of information http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/. What specific licensing questions do you have?
Virtualization is a fantastic technology, but I can see some areas where virtualization may not make sense. For example, if you've outsourced email and other common applications you may only have one or two servers in your environment. Do the additional licensing costs and added complexity add significant value to you environment to justify changing from physical to virtual? If not, then staying physical may make sense. If redundancy, ease of deployment, and other factors way more heavily then it may be time to consider virtualizing.
Linux is great. Don't let anyone tell you differently. But that doesn't mean it's great for everyone and everything. It's rock solid stable, but can be difficult to configure, and some hardware compatibility issues can cause frustration. Also, fragmentation is still an issue. This means that you'll want to ensure that not only are there appropriate Linux drivers for your hardware, but also that the applications you plan to run on Linux are compatible with your distribution of choice.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the home being single. If you locked down as you say, you need to get your boss to take her issue up with the IT department for a solution.(assume neither of you are in IT).
We use Dameware mini remote if you allowed anything. It lets you switch very easy.
Any remote program has it's ups and downs. I typically use http://join.me to remote in. For a paid app I use dameware tools. Has a plethora of useful tools. http://www.dameware.com/ . For a bootcd, everything I've ever needed is on Hiren's BootCD 10.4. After 10.4, they took out a lot of programs for licensing reasons. 10.4 is the best one I've used. Has mini xp, linux bootup, password recovery, malwarebytes, and everything else you would probably use.
Kaseya is probably too pricey for that level (i think its a many thousands of dollars type program). You might Try DameWare
http://www.dameware.com/products/dntu/
hopefully others have suggestions cause im out
Deploy a Remote System Management System so you'll won't have to run around solving problems you can remotely, I work in a large factory and if I had to run around solving problems I wouldn't have lasted a week (one time after upgrading the exchange server people couldn't get their mail, I closed 70 tickets without getting off my chair), we use DameWare but it ain't free.
Also some people will be impressed from your "magic"(someone called me a magician once XD ) when they see their mouse moving without you being there :P