John W. Colby
jcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Thu Feb 6 15:01:00 CST 2003
REMOTE ACCESS is a server (service) that runs on Windows 2k (and XP) systems. AFAIK it is not included with Win2K Desktop, only with Server. That is my question. Do you have to be running Win2K Server to run (or have) the REMOTE ACCESS server side application. IOW, I only have Win2K Pro (desktop) machines in my network. Can I RAS in from my client? And yes I know Symantec has something similar, but I am discussing the stuff built in to Windows. John W. Colby Colby Consulting www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Drew Wutka Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 3:49 PM To: 'accessd at databaseadvisors.com' Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN No, not really. Essentially what a VPN is, is you are making a 'connection' to a router, that once you are 'authenticated', it takes all of your requests from the outside (internet/WAN) and 'disguises' them so they look like they are originating from within the inside (intranet/WAN). Thus, when you are on a VPN connection, the 'remote' machines you are talking to think you are a local user. To do this, you need a router. Since Windows 2000 Server can be setup as a router (you can put two nics in it, and have it act as a router between subnets), it also can accept VPN connections. Essentially it is a software router. No matter which way you setup a VPN, it doesn't really matter what type of network you have in house... (It can be NT 4.0, 2000, or even non MS (I believe..never tried....). Drew -----Original Message----- From: John W. Colby [mailto:jcolby at colbyconsulting.com] Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 1:09 PM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN Jim, I assume though that actual remote access requires Win2K Server? John W. Colby Colby Consulting www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Jim Dettman Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 1:40 PM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN John, <<If my customer only has Microsoft Windows 2000 (non-server) can I still set up a VPN with them?>> Yes, you can still setup a VPN. VPN's are implemented with a router and/or Firewall, which simply gets you a connection to the network. More and more, this is all in one box. Something like Netgears FVL328 or a Cisco 800. Jim Dettman President, Online Computer Services of WNY, Inc. (315) 699-3443 jimdettman at earthlink.net -----Original Message----- From: accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of John Skolits Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 12:06 PM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN Jim, To set up the VPN, doesn't the VPN server require Windows 2000 'Server'? If my customer only has Microsoft Windows 2000 (non-server) can I still set up a VPN with them? John Skolits -----Original Message----- From: accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Jim Dettman Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 11:25 AM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN I just went through this with a client where I setup a VPN between two of their offices. They hate the slowdown when the drive is mapped, so I gave them batch files to map/unmap the drive as needed as the connection is only for occasional use. And yes, it's the best way in the world to support clients. I have quite a few now setup this way and it really speeds things up. Jim Dettman President, Online Computer Services of WNY, Inc. (315) 699-3443 jimdettman at earthlink.net -----Original Message----- From: accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of John W. Colby Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 11:14 AM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN Drew, You DA MAN!!! The first part worked like a dream, net use. The second part has too much stuff that needs an example for me to understand. rasdial MyVPNName UserName Password /domain:VPN'sRemoteDomainName I'm assuming MyVPNName is what I call the connection on my machine - in this case "Virtual Private Connection Beacon", UserName Password I understand /domain:VPN'sRemoteDomainName though is not specific enough to figure out (for me anyway) /domain I assume is the 64.252.xxx.xxx stuff. What is :VPN'sRemoteDomainName? There is no domain, it is all A2K desktop. I'm guessing the workgroup is "Workgroup" since that is the normal default. However, in the end (after playing around) ... it seems all I need is rasdial MyVPNName I have to guess that all of those other params are already in the connection widget that gets called. I now have a batch file that looks like: rasdial "Virtual Private Connection Beacon" net use W: \\192.168.0.10\Database That starts the VPN connection and maps the drive for me. A second batch file: net use w: /DELETE rasdial "Virtual Private Connection Beacon" /disconnect unmaps the drive and disconnects the VPN connection. HOLY CRAP! Is this cool or what? DREW'S DA MAN! DREW'S DA MAN! DREW'S DA MAN! DREW'S DA MAN! Ok, I got a bit carried away there, but it really was a PITA to have that mapped drive there that wasn't real, slowing everything down. And now I know how to map my server stuff as well. John W. Colby Colby Consulting www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Drew Wutka Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 1:26 AM To: 'accessd at databaseadvisors.com' Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN Okay, a simple solution would be to make two batch files. Have one batch file setup the network drive, and one to kill the network drive. To setup the network drive: (first line removes substitution) subst T: /D net use T: \\computername\sharename To kill the network mapping: net use T: /DELETE subst T: C:\MyLocalTDrive (MyLocalTDrive would be a folder in the root of your C: Drive) Now you could probably get fancy, and write a routine that keeps checking for the existance of the VPN network, but I think just putting those two sets of lines into two simple batch files would be a simple AND easy solution. You can even go a bit further if you want. If you have RAS turned on for Windows 2000, it allows you to use command line 'dialing' for a VPN connection. To connect to a VPN source: rasdial MyVPNName UserName Password /domain:VPN'sRemoteDomainName To Disconnect: rasdial MyVPNName /disconnect If those work, you could just have two batch files to start and stop your VPN connection. Drew -----Original Message----- From: John W. Colby [mailto:jcolby at colbyconsulting.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 11:14 PM To: AccessD Subject: [AccessD] OT: Mapped drive on VPN Guys, I have a VPN setup to allow me to Remote Access into a client's system.. Works great, highly recommended. I also have a mapped drive on the client's system. using that, whenever I have the VPN connection going I can drag and drop from my hard disk to the client's hard disk. Also works well except... if I don't have the VPN up, it wreaks havoc with many different things. Basically any time that Windows goes out to "scan" for available media, I have to endure a timeout. This means when any File Find dialog opens and I click the combo at the top to display the hard disks... 10 (or more) seconds while it figures out it can't see that drive. IEs "autocomplete" in the address bar doesn't work any more etc. My question is, is there any way, using scripting or otherwise, to set up something like a batch file to create the mapped drive. This would allow me to unmap the drive whenever I am not connected, the connect and remap the drive whenever I want to connect to that client using the VPN. I like the mapped drive and drag and drop from here to there soooo much I am very hesitant to disable it, but it is a major PITA to endure the problems whenever the VPN is not active. John W. Colby Colby Consulting www.ColbyConsulting.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com