[Merged]advice please - intranet via internet?

Vlad_Dracul · 28-12-2006, 22:16

A major company has a company wide wired intranet network. It wants to allow some of its workers who are not office based to connect to the company intranet via their home internet connections to receive web pages and emails.

Can anyone suggest what hardware and/or software would be required to provide that connectivity and make it secure?

ta

bopdude · 28-12-2006, 22:50

Surely such a " major company " would have it's own IT team, they wouldn't need to ask that sort of question on a forum

Gareth · 28-12-2006, 23:09

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vpn

Surely any IT dept worth their salt would already know this kinda stuff?

**Rob** · 29-12-2006, 14:08

It's clearly not that "major" a company if the IT dept is fishing for such basic answers on here.

VPN allows connections into a server, but that might not always be practical, especially if users are loggin in from odd locations not on their own computer and aren't savvy enough to create their new connection. Dependent on user numbers think about a combination of M$ ISA server firewall, with Sharepoint and Exchange runing Outlook Web Access. Then all users would need is to remember the website address they have to log in to.

handyman · 29-12-2006, 14:13

Another vote for vpn here, Surprised at this 'major' company not knowing about it though.

Angua · 29-12-2006, 15:16

I access stuff that way and they use "Cache Cleaner".

**Hugh** · 29-12-2006, 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by dooper786

A major company has a company wide wired intranet network. It wants to allow some of its workers who are not office based to connect to the company intranet via their home internet connections to receive web pages and emails.

Can anyone suggest what hardware and/or software would be required to provide that connectivity and make it secure?

ta

Number of options
VPN (private)
VPN (using one of the major Telecoms providers)
DSL link with two level security (is the PC home PC or Work PC? If it is home PC, don't allow it - once you have access to the work network with a compromised home PC, bad things happen

). If it is work PC, there is lots of software out there which can be used to recognise that the PC/laptop is allowed to try to log on to the network, then use a crypto-tag for actual log-on to the network, as well as the normal network security requirements).

HTH

As others have said, v. surprised the major company's IT team don't know this.

Dingbat · 29-12-2006, 23:08

Based on what I use...

Custom VPN software with SecurID login
Tunnelguard software (to prevent access from other PCs on home network or anyone who can back-door through a router)
Corporate AV software

Vlad_Dracul · 30-12-2006, 12:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by bopdude

Surely such a " major company " would have it's own IT team, they wouldn't need to ask that sort of question on a forum

No no no,,allow me to explain...The major company is indeed a major company but it could be that its field based workforce feels cut off and marginalised. Meanwhile the rest of the company uses various excuses for not allowing intranet access (keep 'em in the dark you see). Meanwhile I am trying to make a valid case for providing that access becuase i know that it can be done relatively easily though i dont know all of the finer technicalities.
Without such access the field based workforce are effectively cutoff and cannot communicate or share resources,learn about training,careers,development etc..see my point?

**Rob** · 30-12-2006, 13:17

In which case it's less about how to do it and more about someone challenging the business need for such access. If the management have their heads in the sand and don't see a need, that is where the efforts need to be targeted.

Vlad_Dracul · 19-07-2007, 18:38

This is just a general query

I work for a big multinational company which is largely UK based but has interests in the US and other parts of the world. In the UK, the company has its own comprehensive intranet. This can be accessed by nearly everyone who is office based. We have a large section of the workforce who are field based,dont really have an office location and just work from home. There have been long standing communication problems becuase of this.

I am not an expert on networking etc and just need some feedback on the logistics and possible costs of providing intranet access to this remote field workforce.

The field workforce does not need access all the time i.e they could access as and when they needed to. A mobile access platform is probably not whats needed.

What i envisage is that as most of them have home PC/broadband, they could access the company intranet via the internet. I'm sure lots of companies already do this and indeed many of us do home banking/finance etc via the internet.

So then, what would be required eg software/hardware to allow remote home users to access a company intranet site via a home pc to read umpteen web pages/swap emails etc?

What is the likely cost to provide that hardware/software?

I'm guessing that the VPN system would be used (which i dont fully understand!)

Is there then a cost per VPN point of connection or is there just a pc which acts as a VPN and which can accept/handle a fixed number of connections?

The point im getting at is,how expensive is it? for example, would 200 potetial VPN connections cost the same or near enough as 100? Is provision of such VPNs expensive?

Final point,,

do you have such access to your company intranet from home? If so how useful is it? It would also be useful if you could say what company you work for and a guess at how many employees you have (you could send this bit privately if you like!)

I am just seeking this info to contruct a case for my company to provide such access..

ta

**Rob** · 19-07-2007, 19:09

Merged with your previous thread on this subject, and I've also cleared the code junk you copied into your post.

---------- Post added at 20:09 ---------- Previous post was at 20:03 ----------

This is generally all server side technology. The extent and cost of your required implementation would depend on how major your company really is.

A really major company with multiple users will require dedicated servers to handle the load and decent dedicated leased line broadband pipes so users can connect to the server at acceptable speed, whether that is via an internet portal of VPN. Small companies needing only one user online at at time could well get away with ADSL.

The required technology could all be implemented from Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, however a major company would have outgrown that and so would need to scale up it's requirements.

TBH this is something that a major company would task it's IT department to conduct a feasibility study into what it actually needs.

cookie_365 · 19-07-2007, 22:34

My company uses this.

You can log onto the intranet, email, network files and a couple of other apps over the internet.

No idea how it's done, how much it cost, or even what company provides the techy stuff. Though we're cheaper than an aviary full of parrots so it can't be that expensive.

Sometimes if I'm at a remote office it's actually quicker to borrow someone else's internet and use the webworking to pick up my emails than it is to wait for the network to find my stuff (?) from the home server.

I use it a lot because I can wake up at 10.00 and decide to work from home right then and there, but still have access to all the files I need and keep my email fix satisfied.

We get a little plastic thingy that's keyed to our own accounts and gives you a fresh password every 2 minutes to keep out the rest of you.