Any good remote access free software?

[dubsdj]

Hi there

I am looking for some kind of free solution or cheap solution to allowing staff at my organisation to remotely access the network and allow them to run certain network apps..

I looked into Virtual network VPN with IPSEC and certificates .. I got it working but it turned out to be too complicated for the general public to configure on their PC's.. In the end I had to give up on that because too many ppl were getting themselves completely stuck with it.

I was quite interested in some kind of terminal services solution but I'm not sure how to go about it.. Thing is there are about 50 staff so I don't know how many remote desktops you can have running on a Windows Server 2003 at the same time.. I think we only have about 5 sessions allowed. If I need serious hardware to do this I don't mind spending some cash but I just don't want to be spending loads of money on some 3rd party solution when Windows Server might have it's own solution built in.

I'm quite able with technical stuff and networks so I'm up for the challenge..

I also heard something about remote app on Windows server 2008.. That sounds promising but can somebody tell me abit more about that.. ?

[chilifrei64]

You have a couple of options

1) Setup an PPTP VPN server using Routing and Remote Access. Obviously configure your firewall to allow this type of connection. Enable remote desktop on their machines either via group policy http://www.lazynetworkadmin.com/knowledgeb...ia-group-policy

or via a script http://lazynetworkadmin.com/knowledgebase-...remote-computer

2) You can run Windows Live Mesh. Have everyone setup their own account, have them install it on their home PC and their work PC. Viola.. Not sure what kind of filtering you have at your work place but most webfilters show this as P2P traffic which can sometime bee seen as a pain.

3) Purchase a server and Terminal Server licenses and run a terminal server. No problem funning 50 at a time.. Just build the server with enough power. This can be somewhat cumbersome with licensing requirements and server lockdown but functional none the less

4) Purchase Citrix XenApp server an a server and a publish only the applications you want them to have access to. Makes for a much more secure "Terminal Server" enviroment.

5) Yes Server 2008 does have some neat Terminal server features but if I am not mistaking, this will only work with server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 ONLY. Not sure if that works for you or not but that would be a nice way to go.

[dubsdj]

Thank you very much that is very helpful.

We are going to upgrade the whole network to Windows 7 so the 2008 solution looks like the way to go.

I found the other options also very interesting and will check them all out.

[Mr Snrub]

5) Yes Server 2008 does have some neat Terminal server features but if I am not mistaking, this will only work with server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 ONLY.

You're maybe thinking of RemoteApps, similar to Citrix's "published apps" concept for SMEs - this feature came along with Windows Server 2008, and just requires the server runs with the Terminal Services role added (and hence TS CALs on a discoverable TS Licensing server).

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazin...ms.aspx?pr=blog

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library...673(WS.10).aspx

With R2, the Terminal Services role has rebranded to Remote Desktop Services, and RemoteApps can now be filtered based on group membership (when viewed through RDS Web Access).

For external access to TS/RDS servers, it is preferred to have users come in through a TS Gateway (another of the roles on Windows Server 2008), as this can be a single point of access for any number of TS servers on the internal network using the standard Remote Desktop Client (6.x and later).

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library...264(WS.10).aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library...530(WS.10).aspx

Windows Server 2008 R2 also brings "DirectAccess", where Windows 7 clients are able to connect remotely to the corporate network securely:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterpris...7/features.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd572177.aspx

[dubsdj]

So Can I use remote apps then?

most clients outside of my organization are on either XP or Vista..

So Could I set up a Server 2008 with remote apps and XP and Vista clients could connect?

[dubsdj]

With Remote app can the application be located somewhere else on the network and just have a shortcut on the TS Remote app server?

A lot of the apps I want to allow to be run are on different servers.

Just wondered if remote app allows me to use UNC paths .

[Mr Snrub]

So Can I use remote apps then?

most clients outside of my organization are on either XP or Vista..

So Could I set up a Server 2008 with remote apps and XP and Vista clients could connect?

Yes, if the XP clients are on SP3 and the Vista clients are SP1 or SP2, they will have the Remote Desktop Client 6.1 which supports RemoteApps.

With Remote app can the application be located somewhere else on the network and just have a shortcut on the TS Remote app server?

A lot of the apps I want to allow to be run are on different servers.

Just wondered if remote app allows me to use UNC paths.

Not tried a RemoteApp using an UNC path, I must admit, but I don't see any restrictions in the step-by-step guide stipulating you can't do that.

The same restrictions apply as if you were to log onto the server directly - the RemoteApp is specified with a command line just like a regular shortcut.

It is also possible to create an MSI package for clients to act as a file association and launch a specified RemoteApp to open a file with an app running remotely, this is quite neat.

Then it's down to the individual apps, they might need to be "TS aware" so they don't have problems running multiple instances in different sessions.