General Question

[gchanana]

Hi,

I was wondering if there is a way to log onto my company's network from home using a laptop? I live 10 miles away from the company. If possible, what hardware, software do I need?

Thanks.

[daemon2525]

Your company would need one of the following to enable this.
Either a RAS (Remote Access server, i.e Modem pool), or a PC set up as a remote server, NT works well.

Or possibly a VPN connection , where you would connect over the internet.

Worst case would be a PC and a Modem running somthing like PCAnywhere.

[SchoolNetworkAdmin]

Having worked in the IT dept of a large organisation on work experience last year, I can confidently say that you should simply give your IT dept a call and see what they can do, I'm sure they'll be able to help you.

They should be able to set up a RAS account for you and can do all the settings required. You need to have a modem in your laptop, but take it to them and they can make sure it works.

On the other hand they may say they don't support this, but you'll have to ask them and see what they say.

[gchanana]

I see. Actually, we are thinking about setting up a terminal server here. I believe that will let me log in from anywhere, so long as I have permission? Actually, I am the IT department, but I just started out =)

[SchoolNetworkAdmin]

Yes, a terminal server will allow connections from client devices (whether they be connecting via RAS as mentioned or by LAN or WAN).

Are you asking what hardware/software your company needs to set up a terminal server and client(s)? If so then you will need to get quotations from companies that can provide those services [Post back if you need to know more about what to ask for, and what options you have]. We recently bought a terminal server, the entire contract was worth around £10,000. (Probably only 1/4 of that was the actual server though).

Terminal servers are really good for allowing access from anywhere, and although they aren't cheap they can - in the long run - drastically reduce costs as even an old Pentium 100 16mb PC could be used as a client.

[This message has been edited by SchoolNetworkAdmin (edited 01-05-2002).]