Microsoft Direct Access Vs Home Access Plus+

[Mark182]

Hello everyone,

We are having some big changes this summer moving to server 2012 R2, virtualizing ect. The reason for my post is a two headed question/ask for advice.

 

At the moment we “remote in” using Sun Global Desktop and a terminal server. A very long winded way and staff don’t like it.

 

We have been weighing up using Microsoft direct access or Home Access Plus+

 

Is anyone using direct access? I know people are using Home access on here.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong but the only drawback I can see for direct access is having to install the “client” on the member of staff’s laptop , the reason I bring that up is that not every member of staff here has a staff laptop so would not be able to remote in using their “home PC” whereas using Home access anyone with the correct credentials can use the “web portal” to log in. The main point of remoting in is that staff need access to home and shared network drives and Sims.

 

This brings me on to my next point/question, we are also want to introduce online room booking that pulls the data dynamically from Sims. I believe Home access does this?

 

Sorry for the long winded post. Just after some advice and seeing what everyone else uses.

[sted]

access to sims the program or the guff it generates?

 

file access you could look at work folders as a decent compromise works on/off premises to sync documents (not tried it with a shared path or in anything beyond a lab setup but as long as your file server dosent have iis installed and you have access to external/internal dns isn't hard to setup) Ive tried getting direct access to work (again lab setup) and it seemed to work but even when the "remote" pc was connected remotely it kept saying connecting all the time (again it was a lab setup so vm server on my laptop using my home broadband with ports forwarded and a fake cert and remote pc a vm on my nuc connected to internet via my phone) Sims is more awkward BUT it should in theory run as a published remote desktop app so it looked and felt like it was running locally but wasn't again not tried it just spitballing here

[fairm010]

Home Access Plus does not provide remote access to SIMS. We use Remote Desktop Services with RD Web Access to achieve that after HAP.

[Mark182]

Home Access Plus does not provide remote access to SIMS. We use Remote Desktop Services with RD Web Access to achieve that after HAP.

 

Yeah that is what we are leaning towards at the moment.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Mark182

[jmcdermott]

We are using Home Access Plus for documents, And have set up a virtual OpenVPN server for sims access and other stuff, openvpn free, simple to setup (does need a few ports opened,) and works.

 

Am keen to have a look at Direct access but as with most Microsoft stuff it is a bit of a pain to get setup.

[aleach2]

@Mark182

 

We use Remote Desktop Services with RD Web Access to give access for staff to access SIMS and other server based applications. They also access their files this way too. RDS in Server 2012 R2 is great, with support for multiple browsers and even clients to run on Mac and Android devices. I have never used HAP but it looks like a nice application.

 

We have been telling staff here to use RemoteApp and Desktop Connections in Control Panel on which ever Windows computer they are going to be using for remote access (This could be a work laptop or home PC). This will then add all the remote apps they have access to direct into their start menu. This eliminates the need to navigate to a website etc. They just go Start > All Programs > Sandhurst School Apps and everything is listed their. It's great and staff love it.

[mrbios]

Using a combination of both here. We started using HAP + RD Gateway via remote apps first, then implemented Direct Access for staff laptops only, so both are used but the latter to a lesser degree.

[Mark182]

@Mark182

 

We use Remote Desktop Services with RD Web Access to give access for staff to access SIMS and other server based applications. They also access their files this way too. RDS in Server 2012 R2 is great, with support for multiple browsers and even clients to run on Mac and Android devices. I have never used HAP but it looks like a nice application.

 

We have been telling staff here to use RemoteApp and Desktop Connections in Control Panel on which ever Windows computer they are going to be using for remote access (This could be a work laptop or home PC). This will then add all the remote apps they have access to direct into their start menu. This eliminates the need to navigate to a website etc. They just go Start > All Programs > Sandhurst School Apps and everything is listed their. It's great and staff love it.

 

 

Sounds good. how are you mapping shared drives ect. I have been looking here from July we will have x 2 servers with data centre and x 1 with standard 2012 R2. Currently with terminal server I need extra licensing. Is it the same with RDS?

 

Thanks for all the feedback so far guys.

[aleach2]

Sounds good. how are you mapping shared drives ect.

 

Once Remote Desktop Services has been installed on your Server 2012 R2 server you will need to create a Session Collection. Once this is created you can install programs then add them as apps. To map a network share you would create an app and say call it My Home Drive and you would point it to explorer (c:\Windows\explorer.exe) and under parameters use /root,H:\ where the H:\ is the users mapped drive you want to create a shortcut to. See below:

 

 

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[Mark182]

Once Remote Desktop Services has been installed on your Server 2012 R2 server you will need to create a Session Collection. Once this is created you can install programs then add them as apps. To map a network share you would create an app and say call it My Home Drive and you would point it to explorer (c:\Windows\explorer.exe) and under parameters use /root,H:\ where the H:\ is the users mapped drive you want to create a shortcut to. See below:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]30768[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]30769[/ATTACH]

 

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Cheers, we'll have a bash with our test servers later. Thanks for the information

[aleach2]

I have been looking here from July we will have x 2 servers with data centre and x 1 with standard 2012 R2. Currently with terminal server I need extra licensing. Is it the same with RDS?

 

In regards to licensing, we use a VMware setup here, so we have data centre licenses to cover the installation of as many virtual Windows Server Datacentre instances as we want, then we buy Remote Desktop Cals to cover the teachers accessing it from home. The number needed totally depends on what licensing model you are using. We use OVS-ES so it is based on the total number for FTEs. Best bet is to speak to someone about licensing.

 

We use XMA (formally Viglen) for our MS licensing and Cheryl Lapham ([email protected]) there is very good when it comes to giving advice whether you are a customer or not.

 

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Edited June 3, 2015 by aleach2

[Mark182]

In regards to licensing, we use a VMware setup here, so we have data centre licenses to cover the installation of as many virtual Windows Server Datacentre instances as we want, then we buy Remote Desktop Cals to cover the teachers accessing it from home. The number needed totally depends on what licensing model you are using. We use OVS-ES so it is based on the total number for FTEs. Best bet is to speak to someone about licensing.

 

We use XMA (formally Viglen) for our MS licensing and Cheryl Lapham ([email protected]) there is very good when it comes to giving advice whether you are a customer or not.

 

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Yeah same as us based on FTE. I will get onto our supplier now and price/order some CAL's.

[Mark182]

When using RDS are you guys using a session based or virtual machine based deployment? If you are using session (we are thinking of using this way) how are you getting access to Sims (mapping S drive ect). Cheers for all the feedback.

[aleach2]

When using RDS are you guys using a session based or virtual machine based deployment? If you are using session (we are thinking of using this way) how are you getting access to Sims (mapping S drive ect). Cheers for all the feedback.

 

We use session based. S drive maps when a user logs in via group policy.