Remote Working Client

Getting Started

The client has to be manually started, this is to ensure that you have the greatest flexibility to
decide where and when you want

1. Click Start then Programs then University IT Services then Lboro VPN.

If you are connected already to the Loughborough University Network, you will get a
warning message.

2. When you use the system for the first time, you will be redirected to this web page to
help you gain familiarity with the new system. As this redirection will not happen in the
future, it may be advisable to add this page to your Favourites for future use.
3. The dialogue box will be pre-populated with the address of the server on campus, you
simply have to click Select and enter your University Username and Password and click
Connect.
 It will take between 10 and 20 seconds to establish a connection to the Loughborough
Network depending on the speed of your Internet link. Also during this time the client
will ensure that it has the latest configuration.

4. Once the connection has been made, the dialogue box will minimise to the System Tray.
This is the area at the bottom right of your desktop where the clock is located.

Hovering over this icon with your mouse pointer will display confirmation that the VPN
(Virtual Private Network) link has been connected.

All network traffic destined for the Loughborough Network will now be directed through
the secure connection. This means that normal Internet browsing to sites like Google and
BBC News as well as services like BBC iPlayer and 4oD will not use the secure
connection, and they will use your traditional Internet Provider link.

University IT filestore, U: and Y: drives will be automatically mapped and content on the
Intranet and other services can be updated. We still strongly recommend that you do not
open documents directly on the drive - copy the document to your own computer, edit it
there, and then copy the edited document back again. This will avoid any loss of work if
there is a problem with your Internet connection.

To Access a PC on campus via Remote Desktop

To access the computer remotely, on the remote computer, start Lboro VPN client as described
above. Start Microsoft Remote Desktop: from your Start button select Programs then
Accessories then Communications and finally Remote Desktop Connection.

Before you connect, by default the connection will be displayed full screen. We recommend that
you first click the Options >> button, and then select the Display tab. The following screen will
be displayed:
Use the Remote desktop size slider to reduce the size of the screen resolution to be used. Click
on the General tab.
For Computer enter the I.P. Address (obtained in How to Set Up using Remote Desktop) e.g.
131.231.82.28 and enter your User name and Password, and then click Connect.

A window will appear on your screen with the remote computer's screen displayed in it -
anything that you do in this screen happens on the remote computer. If you do display the screen
full-size, there is a floating tab at the top of the screen with the computer name displayed and
Minimize, Restore Down, and Close buttons on the right-hand side. Use the Restore Down
button to display the screen not full size.

When you have finished, Log Off from the remote computer, and then close the Remote Desktop
Computer window. You can now continue using the client or disconnect it to finish your session.

Disconnecting
To disconnect, right click the VPN icon in the System Tray and select Quit from the pop-up
menu.

This will disconnect from the IT Services VPN cleanly and exit the application. Connecting
again is as simple as starting the application as before.

[Note that if you click the icon, the client window will re-open with a "Disconnect" button. If
you click this it does disconnect, but the application still exists in the System Tray, and you must
still right-click and select "Quit" from the pop-up menu to close the application fully!]

Connection Problems

If there are connection problems (e.g. you are at the edge of availability of a wireless network),
then you may see the following:

The client should re-connect and you can continue working.

It's 2 a.m., and you've just been paged. Do you have an easy way to get into your network, or is the pain
of waking up going to be compounded by frustrations associated with dialing into work? In the good old
days, I can remember dialing into work with a modem in order to get work done. It was slow, but there
weren't any alternatives. I just thought I was lucky I could avoid the drive back onsite to fix something in
the middle of the night.

Sometimes I would use a package like Symantec's pcAnywhere to remotely control a PC that had been
left powered on in the office. We would use this same type of solution for our road warriors, who would
dial in from a hotel room and do their best to get their e-mail or reports from the server. It wasn't ideal, but
it was one of the best solutions available at the time. Some employers still use solutions like pcAnywhere,
gotomypc.com, Citrix, etc. These approaches can be useful for non-technical users, or for people that
need to use desktops that are locked down. However, with the advent of the ability to tunnel over a virtual
private network (VPN) into the corporate network, the need to use remote control software should lessen,
especially for the technical support staff members who happen to be remote.

The need to be remote might not even be related to a call out in the middle of the night. You might have
employees who travel and need to access the network from a cab, airport or hotel. You may be interested
in offering the ability for your employees to work remotely and require them to be in the office less often.
You may have an employee who is too sick to come into the office, but not so sick that they cannot take
some Dayquil and do some work from home. You may have an employee with a sick child who is unable
to go to daycare. Instead of asking them to take a sick day to care for their child, hopefully you have the
tools and policies in place to allow them to work remotely while their child is resting. All of these situations
end up being productivity gains for the employer. Instead of idle time during which an employee is unable
to connect to the office and get work done, a simple VPN connection into the office gives the employee
the opportunity to get things done from wherever they are, using the tools they're accustomed to.

I have known customers that outfit their employees with laptops that allow them to work from home, but
then cripple them with a Citrix solution, or another remote access method that doesn't allow them to use
the tools that are on their machines. It's much easier for the employee to use the applications that are
loaded on the laptop, in the same way that they are used in the office. When you put another virtual
desktop in the middle of things, it complicates life unnecessarily compared to allowing this machine to be
just another node on the network.

Security Considerations and Precautions

There are security considerations and precautions that need to be taken when thinking about a VPN.
Nobody wants to deploy a solution that allows their employees in, but also allows non-employees to have
unauthorized access. We must do our best to mitigate these risks, while still allowing trusted people to
have the resources to do their jobs. There are going to be some networks that don't allow any traffic in or
out of them from the outside, and obviously this discussion is not intended for them. There are going to be
situations where sensitive information exists where the risk of disclosure outweighs any benefits of
allowing remote access to anyone.

In many instances, providing employees with network access is a benefit to the employee and the
employer. The time it will take to wait for an employee to get dressed and drive in (especially when they
live great distances away) can be an unacceptable delay when a critical application goes down during the
night. Instead of waiting for them to drive on-site, provide the right tools to get the job done remotely.

An ideal world is one where you can work seamlessly from wherever you happen to be. Cellular
broadband networks, 802.11 wireless networks, and wired broadband networks in the home, coupled with
a decent VPN connection, has gotten us to the point where it really doesn't matter where an employee
physically resides in order to get the work done. We can see the truth of that statement when we start to
see the globalization of the technical support work force. Many organizations are taking advantage of the
benefits of employees working from anywhere, including other countries. It would be ridiculous to ask an
employee to work remotely from overseas over a Citrix connection that has a 15-minute inactivity timeout.
It should be just as ridiculous to ask a local employee to use this type of connection to troubleshoot and
resolve issues with servers.