Skip to main content

Remote Access


Remote access is the ability for an authorized person to access a computer or a network from a geographical distance through a network connection. Remote access enables users to connect to the systems they need when they are physically far away. This is especially important for employees who work at branch offices, are traveling or telecommute to work.

Remote access enables remote users to access files and other system resources on any devices or servers that are connected to the network at any time, increasing employee productivity and enabling them to better collaborate with colleagues around the world.

A remote access strategy also gives organizations the flexibility to hire the best talent regardless of location, remove silos and promote collaboration between teams, offices and locations.

Technical support professionals also use remote access to connect to users' computers from remote locations to help them resolve issues with their systems or software.

One common method of providing remote access is via a remote access VPN connection. A VPN creates a safe and encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the internet. VPN technology was developed as a way to enable remote users and branch offices to securely log into corporate applications and other resources.

How remote access works

Remote access is usually accomplished with a combination of software, hardware and network connectivity. For example, traditional remote access before the wide availability of internet connectivity was accomplished using terminal emulation software that controlled access over a hardware modem connected to a telephone network. Now, remote access is more commonly accomplished using a secure software solution like a VPN -- software -- by connecting hosts through a hard-wired network interface or Wi-Fi network interface -- hardware -- or by connecting via the internet -- network.

Remote access VPNs are used to connect individual users to private networks. With a remote access VPN, each user needs a VPN client capable of connecting to the private network's VPN server.

When a user is connected to the network via a VPN client, the software encrypts the traffic before it delivers it over the internet. The VPN server, or gateway, is located at the edge of the targeted network and decrypts the data and sends it to the appropriate host inside the private network.

A computer must have software that enables it to connect and communicate with a system or resource hosted by the organization's remote access service. Once the user's computer is connected to the remote host, it can display a window with the target computer's desktop.

Enterprises can also use remote desktops to enable users to connect to their applications and networks remotely. Remote desktops use application software -- sometimes incorporated into the remote host's operating system -- that enables apps to run remotely on a network server and be displayed locally at the same time.

Users can securely access on-premises and cloud applications and servers from anywhere, on any device with a variety of authentication methods, including remote single sign-on, which gives users easy and secure access to the apps they need without configuring VPNs or modifying firewall policies.

In addition, organizations can use multifactor authentication to verify a user's identity by combining multiple credentials unique to one person.
Types of remote access
Traditionally, enterprises use modems and dial-up technologies to allow employees to connect to office networks via telephone networks connected to remote access servers. Devices connected to dial-up networks use analogue modems to call assigned telephone numbers to make connections and send or receive messages.
Broadband provides remote users with high-speed connection options to business networks and to the internet. There are several types of broadband, including the following:
  • Cable broadband shares bandwidth across many users and, as a result, upstream data rates can be slow during high-usage hours in areas with many subscribers.
  • DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) broadband provides high-speed networking over a telephone network using broadband modem tech. However, DSL only works over a limited physical distance and may not be available in some areas if the local telephone infrastructure doesn't support DSL technology.
  • Cellular internet services can be accessed by mobile devices via a wireless connection from any location where a cellular network is available.
  • Satellite internet services use telecommunications satellites to provide users with internet access in areas where land-based internet access isn't available, as well as for temporary mobile installations.
  • Fiber optics broadband technology enables users to transfer large amounts of data quickly and seamlessly.
Remote access protocols
Common remote access and VPN protocols include the following:
  • Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) enables hosts to set up a direct connection between two endpoints.
  • IPsec -- Internet Protocol Security -- is a set of security protocols used to enable authentication and encryption services to secure the transfer of IP packets over the internet.
  • Point-to-Point Tunneling (PPTP) is one of the oldest protocols for implementing virtual private networks. However, over the years, it has proven to be vulnerable to many types of attack. Although PPTP is not very secure, it persists in some cases
  • Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) is a VPN protocol that does not offer encryption or cryptographic authentication for the traffic that passes through the connection. As a result, it is usually paired with IPsec, which provides those services.
  • Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is a protocol developed in 1991 and published as an Internet Standard track specification in 2000 to enable remote access servers to communicate with a central server to authenticate dial-in users and authorize their access to the requested system or service.
  • Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS) is a remote authentication protocol that was originally common to Unix networks that enables a remote access server to forward a user's password to an authentication server to determine whether access to a given system should be allowed. TACACS+ is a separate protocol designed to handle authentication and authorization, and to account for administrator access to network devices, such as routers and switches.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Black swan

A  black swan event  is an incident that occurs randomly and unexpectedly and has wide-spread ramifications. The event is usually followed with reflection and a flawed rationalization that it was inevitable. The phrase illustrates the frailty of inductive reasoning and the danger of making sweeping generalizations from limited observations. The term came from the idea that if a man saw a thousand swans and they were all white, he might logically conclude that all swans are white. The flaw in his logic is that even when the premises are true, the conclusion can still be false. In other words, just because the man has never seen a black swan, it does not mean they do not exist. As Dutch explorers discovered in 1697, black swans are simply outliers -- rare birds, unknown to Europeans until Willem de Vlamingh and his crew visited Australia. Statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb uses the phrase black swan as a metaphor for how humans deal with unpredictable events in his 2007...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a computer chip that performs rapid mathematical calculations, primarily for the purpose of rendering images. A GPU may be found integrated with a central processing unit (CPU) on the same circuit, on a graphics card or in the motherboard of a personal computer or server. In the early days of computing, the CPU performed these calculations. As more graphics-intensive applications such as AutoCAD were developed; however, their demands put strain on the CPU and degraded performance. GPUs came about as a way to offload those tasks from CPUs, freeing up their processing power. NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and ARM are some of the major players in the GPU market. GPU vs. CPU A graphics processing unit is able to render images more quickly than a central processing unit because of its parallel processing architecture, which allows it to perform multiple calculations at the same time. A single CPU does not have this capability, although multi...
Post a Comment
Read more

6G (sixth-generation wireless)

6G (sixth-generation wireless) is the successor to 5G cellular technology. 6G networks will be able to use higher frequencies than 5G networks and provide substantially higher capacity and much lower latency. One of the goals of the 6G Internet will be to support one micro-second latency communications, representing 1,000 times faster -- or 1/1000th the latency -- than one millisecond throughput. The 6G technology market is expected to facilitate large improvements in the areas of imaging, presence technology and location awareness. Working in conjunction with AI, the computational infrastructure of 6G will be able to autonomously determine the best location for computing to occur; this includes decisions about data storage, processing and sharing.  Advantages of 6G over 5G 6G is expected to support 1 terabyte per second (Tbps) speeds. This level of capacity and latency will be unprecedented and wi...
Post a Comment
Read more