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Remote Access

Internet Technology SolutionSeminar

3 Welcome

4 Objectives

5 Todays Business Applications

6 Defined

7 Remote Access Uses

8 Requirements

9 Comparison

10 Architecture

11 Components

12 Conclusion

Remote Access

Internet Technology SolutionSeminar

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Welcome to the Technology E-seminar on Remote Access technologies

In today’s networked economy, many companies want to give their

employees, customers or partners, remote access to a part or all of their

network. This way, authorised users can access the internal company

resources and use various business applications.

To support these requirements, Remote Access Technologies are available, in

a variety of ways.

Remote Access Seminar

Welcome

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In this seminar, we will discuss the technical aspects of the different Remote

Access solutions

At the end of the seminar, you will have a good understanding about what

exactly Remote Access is about, and which business processes and solutions

can benefit from this technology

You will also learn which Remote Access Solutions exist and how they are

compared to each other

Finally, we will discuss the technical requirements of implementing Remote

Access Solutions at your company

Remote Access Seminar

Objectives

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Companies today automate more and more of their business applications

and processes. These business solutions, such as E-Commerce, Supply

Chain Management and E-Procurement, enable companies to stay

competitive, to increase their productivity, and to reduce their costs.

Many of these business applications are first created and implemented for

the company’s Intranet. However, also external users, such as customers,

mobile employees, partners and suppliers, may need to have access to these

applications from outside the company Intranet. With today’s Internet-

based Business Solutions, remote access has become a crucial business

requirement.

Remote Access Seminar

Todays business applications

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So what do we understand by Remote Access?

Remote Access refers to any technology that enables a company to connect

users in locations which are geographically dispersed. It usually is a simple

connection, between an individual user, or a very small branch office, and a

central network.

There are different types of Remote Access technologies

Traditionally, remote access was mostly accomplished by analog Dial-up

connections, using modem technology

A digital an slightly faster way of access is obtained through ISDN, standing

for Integrated Service Digital Network

Recently, broadband access technologies, such as Cable and DSL have

emerged, bringing high-speed network access to the remote user. DSL, or

Digital Subscriber Line, is commonly available in its ADSL form:

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. "Asymmetric" refers to different

upstream and downstream connection speeds.

Finally, Ethernet to the Home, Building or Business, generally abbreviated as

ETTx, brings Ethernet connectivity, over fibre, to residential users and small

business offices located in apartment blocks, multi-tenanted business

buildings and hotels.

Remote Access Seminar

Defined

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Remote access technologies allow companies to enable their employees to

telework for a part or all of their time, while giving them similar network

access as in the office

External users such as customers or preferred partners, could be given

access to certain company databases or special applications, for instance for

commercial interactions.

For companies who have small branch offices, with local networks which

should be connected to the main office, the high-bandwidth access methods

of DSL, Cable and Ethernet-to-the-Home could be interesting. These

methods allow voice, video and other critical applications to be run between

the different sites within the network.

Remote Access Seminar

Remote Access Uses

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The requirements of a remote access solution for a company may vary,

depending on the size of the remote office as well as the application

requirements and performance expectations of their users.

First, connectivity is key: easy connections and consistency are crucial to

companies relying on remote access. Customers, employees and partners

should connect seamlessly, as if they are in company headquarters.

Secondly, the remote connection should be reliable: users count on the

ability to log in and to remain connected at an expected level of

performance.

As companies and users discover the flexibility of remote access, security

becomes a higher priority. A security solution usually consists of a

combination of hardware solutions such as Firewalls, and software solutions

such as access control lists, passwords, and Triple A: Authentication,

Authorization, and Accounting methods. Please refer to the Technology E-

Seminar on Network Security for more details about these technologies.

Finally, a company has to make a decision on bandwidth requirements for

remote users and offices, depending on the business applications that are

used over these connections.

Remote Access Seminar

Requirements

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Let’s make a quick comparison of the most common remote access

technologies available today.

The traditional analog dial-up connection is available everywhere you have

a phone connection. At present, the fastest analog modems operate at 56

kilo-bits-per-second. This technology is cheap for limited use, but slow

compared to other technologies.

An ISDN line costs slightly more than a regular telephone line, and offers a

digital connection at a speed up to 128 kilo-bits-per-second. With ISDN,

remote connections are made more quickly, and the service is more reliable

than analog connections. Furthermore, ISDN usually allows phone, fax or

data traffic to happen simultaneously.

ADSL and Cable technologies offer theoretical speeds up to 10 mega-bits-

per-second. These speeds vary in upstream and downstream directions –

downstream is from the remote network to the user, upstream from the user

to the remote network. The actual bandwidth available depends on your

local Service Provider.

ADSL uses the existing public telephone network, but does not interfere

with phone communications. "Cable" makes use of the existing cable TV

infrastructure, and may therefore not be available everywhere.

Ethernet-to-the-Home, finally, is increasingly offered by Service Providers in

metropolitan areas. It delivers Ethernet LAN speed in both directions, at 10

to 100 Megabits-per-second.

Remote Access Seminar

Comparison

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So how does Remote Access work? Depending on the technology, a remote

access connection is established as follows.

In the case of analog dial-up, a user connects from his remote location to

the central office network using the Public Switched Telephone Network, or

PSTN. This connection can either be established directly from the user’s

computer, or through a router with dial-up capabilities.

Similarly, in the case of ISDN or a DSL, a router, usually with firewall

technology, is connected to the PSTN, or to a backbone network of a

Service Provider, which delivers a secure and private connection to the

central office network, for instance through the use of VPN technology.

The connection of the remote office to the central office could also happen

over the public Internet, in which case use of appropriate security

technologies will be required.

In the case of Cable, the cable router has an "always-on" connection

through the Cable network of the Cable Service Provider.

With Ethernet-to-the-home, such "always-on" link happens over a fibre

optics network. Again, in the case of permanent connections, VPN and

security technologies can guarantee secure and private connectivity.

At the central office, incoming connections are handled by either access

servers, firewalls and routers, depending on the remote access technology

used.

Remote Access Seminar

Architecture

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Let’s zoom in to the individual components of a remote access solution.

In case a small local network exists at the remote office, use of a local

router is recommended, as it separates the local LAN from the remote

network and keeps local network traffic local. It uses the remote

connection only when requested, and usually contains firewall or VPN

software, to allow for secure remote connections.

For the company headquarters site, a variety of routers and switches exists

today, to be able to handle any type of access mechanism, whether it

involves ISDN, DSL, Cable, Ethernet or optical technologies.

In the case of dial-up connections, Access Servers are used to concentrate

dial connections coming in from the different remote users. An Access

Server receives the incoming connection from each user that wants access to

the network, verifies its username and password, and performs the necessary

steps to authenticate and authorise each user.

When remote users use permanent connections, such as DSL, cable or

Ethernet-to-the-home, user authentication and authorisation will be handled

by a separate management system.

Finally, security solutions, such as a separate hardware Firewall, are

available to protect the company from intruders and unwanted traffic on

the internal network.

Remote Access Seminar

Components

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To summarise: Internet-based business applications have made remote access

to an essential business requirement.

A variety of remote access solutions is available to every company,

depending on its specific needs with respect to bandwidth, reliability, and

ease-of-use. Several remote access technologies are available at different

performance and cost levels.

In any remote access scenario, network security can be guaranteed through

the use of VPN and firewall technologies.

Remote Access Seminar

Conclusions