[Web4lib] VPN for remote access

[Whyzzi]

http://openvpn.net/ might be something you wish to consider. It is
more work but it is also secure, free (as in GPL) and quite portable
(Linux, Windows 2000/XP and higher, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Mac OS
X, and Solaris).

Peter Verhagen
Systems Administrator
St. Albert Public Library

On 03/02/07, Michael J. Dargan <dargan at gmail.com> wrote:
> Mark--
>
> On 1/30/07, Mark Sandford <sandfordm1 at wpunj.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Ed,
> >
> > Have you looked at Remote Desktop for Windows?  It just needs to be
> > configured if you're running Windows XP Pro.  The upside to that is that
> > XP
> > Home has the client installed already, so there's no software you need to
> > buy or install at home.  I'm not sure about earlier windows versions.  As
> > far as I know, if the work machine is running XP Pro, you just need to
> > enable Remote Desktop and open the firewall to it.
>
>
> We've used Windows Remote Desktop for several years with good results.  I
> recommend that you set your firewall to accept traffic only from the IP
> address of the client.  It's a bit more overhead, but is a bit more secure.
>
> --mike
>
>  It uses the Windows
> > username/password to log in.
> >
> > Also, there are some VNC programs that are good for the same effect.  I've
> > used UltraVNC (http://www.uvnc.com/index.html)  It's open source, very
> > easy
> > to configure, and the only network support needed is an open port in the
> > firewall.  You can specify what port you want to use.
> >
> > A benefit is the UltraVNC viewer can be launched as a standalone file from
> > a
> > USB drive without installing on a machine at all, and it's a standard
> > protocol so you can even use a linux box (and I'm sure there's a Mac VNC
> > client somewhere, too) to connect to the Windows machine.
> >
> > In either case, you'd need to know the address of the machine you're
> > connecting to.  I use UltraVNC to connect to my home PC and have port
> > forwarding set up on my router.
> >
> > These aren't exactly VPN based solutions, but they can be for added
> > security.  My campus, for instance, requires a VPN connection before the
> > firewall will let you connect to a PC using Remote Desktop.  VNC allows
> > for
> > several flavors of encryption and compression, which is nice if you need
> > to
> > tweak due to bandwidth issues.
> >
> > Hope that helps,
> >
> > --
> > Mark Sandford
> > Special Formats Cataloger
> > William Paterson University
> > (973)270-2437
> > sandfordm1 at wpunj.edu
> >
> > On 1/30/07, Ed Erjavek <erjaveked at sbpl.org> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Our director is interested a VPN-type solution that would provide remote
> > > access to her email and files.
> > >
> > > Does anyone have any suggestions for something affordable and easy for
> > her
> > > to use and our administrators to configure?


-- 
I know too much and yet not enough