Hey Dirk -
You're tracking off the big box, but controlling it via VNC Viewer running on a laptop that you keep near you while recording. The big box is as far away as you want it to be on the end of an ethernet cable and in my case a Firewire cable, since that's how I interface to my sound module, a Yamaha i88x.
In my case, I have my equipment rack (preamp, Firewire interface), my mikes, the laptop and the router all in the studio. The big noisy PC, actually a gigantic Vaio laptop, is outside the studio on the other side of some double doors where I can't hear it. It's linked in via a) a long Firewire cable that goes into my Yamaha i88x firewire interface box, and b) an ethernet cable that takes it to the router. I plug my laptop into the router, fire up VNC, and link the two PCs in a Windows workgroup. Off to the races.
I should draw a picture of this....
Edward