Nope to the VNC thing.... At least under *nix I can set up any number of "virtual desktops" as VNC servers and the host machine can go either way, it can observe the VNC client or it can be running its own desktop. Why do are you sure VNC uses more bandwidth? (Not arguing, I don't know). I would assume VNC would allow bandwidth savings by using compression.

Latency is a physical issue, not really a protocol issue. It is affected purely by the physical route you have to take to get from point A to point B. What physical media you pass through and how many hops over what machines determines your latency.

David