VPN

[Nylah]

please to help unconfuse me on this issue.

I did a bit of googling and I still am not 100% clear on the VPN thing.

VPN is essentially remote access correct?

so VPN capabilities includes software like laplink, PCEverywhere, LogMeIn, etc. Or are these programs/software considered something a bit different than VPN? Do you need to have server capabilities to use other VPN software?

The reason I am asking is cause I want to find the best way to access customer PCs when I am away. I have used Laplink before and I hate it. Too cumbersome to deal with. I want to figure out what I should invest in or tell my customers to invest in

[Diplomat]

Re: VPN

What OS are your customers running? Could you not just use remote desktop (XP and above)?

Re VPN (virtual private network), it is more than remote access, as one can have remote access without VPN. Most people use VPN to establish secure communication through the internet that allows them certain functionality that they would not have otherwise had without VPN. Accessing a corporate network is a case in point.

[Nylah]

Re: VPN


the problem is when you run software like Laplink, the client's computer must always be on plus they cannot use their desktop while I am on it. Both present problems. Some are unwilling to leav their computers on all the time. Or if I am working on their files, they cannot use their system at all. Plus I dont want them watching every key stroke I am doing and then phoning me and asking a million and ten questions because they dont understand accounting procedures.

what I want (if it is possible) is to access their files whenever it is convenient for me and to not interrupt their daily work.

[Diplomat]

Re: VPN

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Empress_Nylah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
what I want (if it is possible) is to access their files whenever it is convenient for me and to not interrupt their daily work. </div></div>
Don't see how that's possible if those files are on the local drive. Once you access the user's PC remotely, you have control of the PC and they are mere spectators until you're done.

[Nylah]

Re: VPN

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CEW</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Empress_Nylah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
what I want (if it is possible) is to access their files whenever it is convenient for me and to not interrupt their daily work. </div></div>
Don't see how that's possible if those files are on the local drive. Once you access the user's PC remotely, you have control of the PC and they are mere spectators until you're done. </div></div>


that is exactly my point CEW they are mere sepctators unitl I finish working which can be hours. These are small businesses that dont have other PC's to use until I am done my work on theirs. So if I have control of the PC then they cant do any work until I am done.

That just doesnt work for them or me.

[Diplomat]

Re: VPN

Quite the dilemma, because there isn't any other way once you connect remotely It would be like two people sitting at the same PC and both trying to work at the same time. Who controls the mouse? The keyboard?

[Nylah]

Re: VPN





well that is what I was trying to ascertain. Now there must be other methods to deal with this because I have worked for bigger companies where we could connect after hours and continue to work on files on the work PC. The PC didnt need to be on or anything like that.

<span style="font-weight: bold">I am assuming the difference is that we were accessing company files located on a server vs a local PC.</span> I never paid attention to the softawre or protocols at the time, so I dont remember how it worked. So, I think the above is possible only with my clients that are big enough to have servers that store their data.

I still need to figure out which softwares can do the above as well.

[Diplomat]

Re: VPN

Oh yeah, if you're accessing files on a network drive, that's a different matter. You could be on it all day and the users wouldn't know the difference, but connecting to a specific PC is a whole different kettle of fish. Your clients may be small, but having the files on a network drive isn't an expensive proposition, especially if it will allow use to work on their stuff after hours, or whenever.

I remember when I was doing Network Administration it was frustrating having the user sit there doing nothing while I looked at his PC/laptop, so I usually tell them to go find something else to do, or I would access during the lunch break when possible

[Nylah]

Re: VPN



now u understand my misery many times my phone would ring while they are watching what I am doing only to ask me, &quot;watcha doing?&quot; &quot;I dont understand&quot;..... I would have to remind them that that is why they hired me to understand what I am doing, so kindly leave me in peace

okay, please elaborate on this:

<span style="font-weight: bold">but having the files on a network drive isn't an expensive proposition, especially if it will allow use to work on their stuff after hours, or whenever.
</span>

[Seveen]

Re: VPN

google ftp sites for sale

they can put their files there and you can retrieve them and do whatever you want without impacting their computer

[dahjah]

Re: VPN

yeh mi nuh see why dem wouldn't ha fi dem tings pan a network drive instead eedah. A de sameting we would do with files in the studio if yuh have more den one person working pan a production.

chk wah seveen a show yuh fi real.

[Nylah]

Re: VPN



Thanks Seveen but I dont see ftp working as well. It would work for a couple of them but not for the most of my clients - because those ones like to do, say, their own A/R invoicing and I take care of the rest.

what i dont want is either one of us over-writing each others files and losing information that needs to be re-entered because of timing issues when you are uploading with ftp.

I would just much rather have a singular point for both of us to access the same database without impacting the others work.

One of my bigger clients is installing a network server this week, so this will alleviate the issue for me. Plus I can work after hours on their database. But for the others with just local PCs, I am still stuck.

CEW mentioned that networking possibilities arent that expensive. Do you know anymore about that?

[Seveen]

Re: VPN

having a network server doesn't help if the data isn't placed there - and that doesn't happen automagically

some of the ftp sites i have used have inbound and outbound data stored on them - one you get the data you can load it on your computer and do whatever you want with it

i don't get the part about overwriting files because of ftp

things can even be password protected

and this is something that you can set up tomorrow

good luck . . .

[Nylah]

Re: VPN



the goal is ot move the data files off a local PC and to put the data on the network server and then have remote access to that. then multiple ppl can access the same data without interference. I have done this when I worked for large companies in the past.

So I was hoping the same thing could be done on a smaller scale.

When I worked with ftp at a particular firm, we did have issues with 2 ppl downloading a file working on it and then uploading later. The last one to upload would &quot;cancel&quot; out the previous file with changes to it.

anyway, I'll contact a IT company and see what solutions they can offer.

[Diplomat]

Re: VPN

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mrs_DragonSlayer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">okay, please elaborate on this:

<span style="font-weight: bold">but having the files on a network drive isn't an expensive proposition, especially if it will allow use to work on their stuff after hours, or whenever.
</span> </div></div>
Basically, storing files on the network instead of locally.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">the goal is ot move the data files off a local PC and to put the data on the network server and then have remote access to that. then multiple ppl can access the same data without interference. I have done this when I worked for large companies in the past.

So I was hoping the same thing could be done on a smaller scale.

When I worked with ftp at a particular firm, we did have issues with 2 ppl downloading a file working on it and then uploading later. The last one to upload would &quot;cancel&quot; out the previous file with changes to it.

anyway, I'll contact a IT company and see what solutions they can offer.</div></div>
No reason it cannot be done with smaller companies. It's just a matter of whether they want to spend the money on a dedicated server, and that really isn't expensive. As a matter of fact, if they don't already have a network server, what are they doing for redundancy? I have to believe their data is being backed up nightly. So if there's already a server in place, assuming it has reasonable RAM and hard drive capacity, they should be able to store files on the network and have users (and support personnel like yourself) access them from there. Heck, they even sell servers form home use now.

Not that big of a dragon to slay