A common discussion I have with small business owners is how to provide remote access to their office network for them or their staff. Most people think this is a difficult capability to provide, but the reality is with a little know-how and proper design, there are different ways to provide this access.
I. VPN - Virtual Private Networking (VPN) can be established in many different ways. My preferred method is to use an actual appliance such as the Cisco ASA5505 firewall as the VPN concentrator (the point that you connect to). I prefer this over using the actual server as the point of contact, although this feature is built in to many Microsoft server operating systems. With VPN access and proper configuration, you have full access to all of the resources on your network as if you were sitting in the office. The downside is you are not sitting in your office, thus everything happens over the Internet and consequently speed becomes a factor.
II. Remote Web Workplace (RWW) - This is a feature built in to Microsoft Small Business Server. It allows for connecting directly to your computer at work from a remote computer right through Internet Explorer. You essentially control your office computer remotely and this enables you to perform all the usual functions that you are used to on your office computer over the Internet through the browser.
III. Outlook over the Internet - Most people think you need a VPN setup in order to access email remotely, but in truth the latest version of Exchange and Outlook provide for what is known as Outlook over the Internet. This basically allows you to open Outlook and use it on any remote computer and have it connected to your office Exchange email server.
IV. Freebies! - Logmein.com has a great free piece of remote control software that once you install it on your computer, you can connect to it from virutally anywhere through their website using a password. This is a nice solution because it is free and it requires to firewall or router configuration. There are many providers out there now of software like this.
V. Hosted Network Drives - A service we provide at Vision provides software that you can install that will allow all users to access the same data via a mapped drive (i.e. F:) right through the "My Computer" shortcut. This requires a small software installation but gives users access to the same data without having to purchase or design a server.
The list goes on. There are quite a few ways to provide for remote access and they do not require a lot of time or money. The payback, however, can be great for those who want to work from home or define a vacation as "working from a tropical location."
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