Posted by Daryl Rinaldi on Mon, Apr 12, 2010 @ 05:30 PM
As a leading Boston area IT Support company we are often are asked to provide a way for our customers to remotely access their network. This is the 3rd part of our 3-part blog on alternative methods of remote access.
Another way to get remote access to your work PC is to install a service such as Logmein (www.logmein.com) or GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com). There are other such services but these are the 2 market leaders. You simply go to their respective websites and sign up for an account. Both charge for a full-featured account. Gotomypc is $19.95/month. Logmein Pro is $12.20/month. Both have annual subscriptions with a lower monthly cost. Both do the same thing and work very similarly. We prefer logmein. We use a special version of logmein for IT services companies so we are very familiar with it and can vouch for it being a very solid, robust product that very rarely has problems. Plus Logmein has a free version that you can use. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the Pro version but it provides remote access, remote printing, and file transfer which are the 3 main features most people need.
Once you sign up for an account you add the computer that you want to remotely access. To add the computer you install an agent on that computer and that makes that PC accessible via the website. Thereafter you can log into your account on the website from any computer and remotely access your work PC (where you have the agent installed). When you are remotely logged in allyour keystrokes and mouse movements are happening on your work computer. It is just as if you were sitting at your desk. You can transfer files to and from your computer and you can print from your work PC locally to a printer that is connected to the remote PC.
These services are very easy to install, they are very reliable, they are easy to use, and you will love the flexibility to be able to remotely access your work PC anywhere you can get online. Forgot that important document at the office? No need to get back in the car on a rainy night and drive back to the office. Just log in in 5 minutes and grab it.
Of course since you now have setup remote access you really should be sure to use strong passwords (remember use a passphrase not a password). But you do need 2 passwords to get access - the password to your logmein (or gotomypc) online account and then the password to access your PC. So as long os you use reasonably strong passphrases these solutions are pretty safe.
If you don't have remote access I encourage you to get it. It will simplify your life and give you a flexibility that you make you wonder why you didn't do it sooner.
PS. Teamviewer (www.teamviewer.com) is another such solution. One nice thing about this solution is that either the target or remote PC can be a Mac or a Windows PC. So you can control a PC from a Mac and vice versa. We've used teamviewer and it seems to work well and is also easy to install and easy to use.
Posted by Daryl Rinaldi on Tue, Apr 06, 2010 @ 05:52 PM
As a leading Boston area IT Support company we are often are asked to provide a way for our customers to remotely access their network. This is the 2nd part of our 3 part blog on alternative methods of remote access.
Remote Web Workplace. Starting with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Microsoft has included a technology called Remote Web Workplace (RWW). This feature enables users to remotely access their desktop via their web browser. You have to configure the service on the server and grant remote access permissions.
You'll need to create DNS settings to configure a URL (aka web address) that your employees can enter into their web browser to gain access to the system. You'll need to map that address to your server within your firewall. If all that sounds like Greek to you (and you don't speak Greek) then you probably need an IT technician to configure this for you.
But let me say it more simply. You define a web address such as www.gizmofish.com/remote (don't bother trying it - we don't have that setup). Your employees enter this into their browser and it takes them to a web page. They log in using the the same user name and password they use on their PCs in the office. They then click on a link to "connect to my computer at work", select their computer and log in as if they were sitting at their desk. Within their browser they will see their office PC desktop and be able to run programs, open documents, print, and access the network just as if they were sitting at their PC in the office.
Pros and Cons
PRO: RWW is pretty easy to set up and use. No special software is needed on the remote computer. And you can centrally control people's remote access permissions. And it is free if you have a Windows Small Business Server 2003 or 2008.
CON: You will still probably need an IT technician to set it up. And if it doesn't work you will probably need your IT technician to resolve the issue. And of course if you do NOT have a server then this solution is a non-starter for you.
On part 3 of this GizmoBlog article we'll discuss more user-driven remote access alternatives that do not require IT intervention to setup and maintain.
Posted by Daryl Rinaldi on Mon, Apr 05, 2010 @ 04:27 PM
As a leading Boston area IT Support company we are often are asked to provide a way for our customers to remotely access their network. Remote access provides great flexibility to business owners and employees alike. People can work from on the road, can work from home when needed, can quickly look up information without having to wait until the next business day, and it provides a fall-back in the event that something makes your offices inaccessible (ex. construction, painting, natural disasters). It also allows you to support more employees without increasing office space. The flexibility to work at home can be a great incentive when hiring new employees as well.
The good news is that connecting to your network remotely is easier than ever before. There are many different methods you can use depending upon your needs and preferences. In this 3 part post we will cover the primary ways that businesses can setup remote access.
1. VPN. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. Setting up a VPN, while easier than it used to be, still requires an IT technician. Your IT support department or company can configure a router that has VPN capability (GizmoFish prefers Sonicwall routers). This will provide a link into your internal network from the internet.
Let me explain how this works in principal. When you are inside your network your computer is attached directly to your network either wirelessly or via an ethernet (AKA network) cable. This allows you to access the network and any devices or network drives that you are allowed access to. When you are NOT in the office and you connect via a VPN it is just like you are physically connected to the network (like when you are in the office), but the connection is actually going over the internet. So you can think of it like there is a really long network cable stretching all the way from your office to your house.
You will need log in credentials to the VPN. The VPN router checks your credentials and then sets up and manages this virtual "tunnel" between your PC and the network. The VPN router can manage many of these connection simultaneously so that several people can be connected at the same time. The router encrypts all the traffic so even if someone were to intercept your traffic to and from the network they could not decipher it and therefore cannot steal any of your sensitive business information. Each user installs VPN software on their remote PC that they uses to log in to the VPN.
Pros and Cons
PRO: VPNs allow centralized control, monitoring, and management of remote access and can allow as many people to have access as your router and your internet bandwidth support. Once you have purchased the router with an appropriate number of VPN connections (some router charge based on the number of connections) there is no additional cost to allow more remote users.
CON: End users cannot setup VPNs by themselves -- An IT professional is usually required and VPNs can be tricky to configure and maintain. So if your VPN connection is not working correctly you usually require IT support to fix it. Also you must purchase a commercial grade VPN router with VPN licenses and you may need to install and maintain VPN software on everyone's PC that will be used for remote access. Also while end users can access data over the network, they cannot access applications. So if you do not have a particular program installed on your remote PC then you cannot run that program even though you may have access to the data. This limitation is not true with some other remote access technologies that we will cover later in this blog post series.
In subsequent posts we will discuss the other major ways of providing remote access to your network.
Posted by Daryl Rinaldi on Mon, Jan 18, 2010 @ 06:18 PM
Data privacy is a hot topic these days. The new privacy regulations (201 CMR 17:00) by the Massachussetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation are going into effect March 1st, 2010. These regulations cover any business that stores personal information about Massachusetts residents. Your Boston-area IT Support firm or IT Department should be knowledgeable on the specific requirements of the regulations. Some important things to consider:
- Even if you don't collect customer personal information, if you keep your employees' Social Security Numbers then you are covered by these regulations.
- There is no technological silver bullet. These regulations require you to adopt certain business practices now.
- You have to create a Written Information Security Program (WISP).
- You have to appoint an Information Security Manager to maintain the WISP.
- As part of the WISP you must inventory reasonably foreseeable security risks and the WISP should address those risks.
- The first step is to actually inventory the personal information (see our white paper for the definition of "personal information") your company keeps. You may be surprised at all the places this information resides.
- These regulations apply to personal information on paper as well as in electronic form. If you don't already have locking filing cabinets you should get them now.
- The regulations have some specific requirements about your computer systems, your password security, and data encyption. Download our white paper for a more detailed discussion of the computer system requirements.
GizmoFish has prepared a helpful White Paper called "10 Things You Must Know About the New Massachusetts Data Privacy Regulations." Click -> here to download this paper