[littleeddy]

Hello:
I have office with five networked comptuers and a Server. I'm looking to access my network from my home office computer. I can get connected to my server via Remote Desktop connection, but I want to update and save files I work on at home to the network.
I've had several suggestions: VPN, Mirror Server, UltraVNC used by the Remote Connection to save and transfer files. Are there other options? What is my best bet?
My number of networked computers should double in the next six months for a total of 10-12.

Thanks

[MJM]

Mirror Server, as you probably know means twice the disk space use. You would also need some sort of applications which automatically sync both to one another.

VPN is from what I know of it, a pain to set up. You have to set the access controls and similar. I've only ever been on the user side of this, so i don't know much about it.

UltraVNC is the only thing I've worked with from this lot. You can control a foreign desktop (as with MS's Remote Desktop), but you can also transfer files. This will probably be the easiest to set up.

[leoh187]

Hi

What software does the server run?

Many Thanks

Leo

[Sin]

VPN would and IS your best bet. It's not a pain to set up, it's very easy actually. There are some VPN clients that are a pain to set up the software on the client side, but thats all in accordance with that specific software vendor. You're very limited with RDP, and VNC is good for controlling remote desktops, and transferring files, but has been known to have problems in mixed-mode in multi-platform environments. It also isn't as fast as a VPN connection. What you're trying to do is what a vast majority of the business out there do, and the most used protocol is VPN because of its speed, ease of use, reliability, and security.

For a business the size of yours, a SoHo firewall like FireBox or SonicWall is what a lot of other businesses that size use, and they have VPN features built in, which are extremely easy to set up. You can set up the VPN, user lists, and access controls with it all through http(s) (web browser), and then you're good to go.

[littleeddy]

The server is running Windows Server2003.
If I go with a VPN firewall...which I know nothing about...is there one specifically anyone would recommend? How easy is it to set a VPN up...IT tech required?

[MJM]

Probably best for me to refer you to MS for that.

There are obviously a lot of things you can read. I'd probably recommend this article.

[Sin]

Originally Posted by littleeddy The server is running Windows Server2003. If I go with a VPN firewall...which I know nothing about...is there one specifically anyone would recommend? How easy is it to set a VPN up...IT tech required?

For an office of that size, I'd recommend Firebox or Sonicwall. They are both good brands. Or a Cisco product for SoHo networks. But those articles that was posted in the post above me are very good things to read about if you don't know much about VPN's. They're easy to set up, and are usually trouble-free, but you need to know what you're doing. Having an IT person there would be a lot of help as well.

[Mike0001]

Found this, don't know if it is fit for what you want.

http://www.iopus.com/ipig/?ref=padipigs

RealVNC is free and allows remote logins.