Student remote access....groan!

[Cowman]

I have asked by the leadership team to enable students to remotely access their work from home.

 

I am looking at using a terminal server so that I can have complete control over it but I have investigated Ranger outpost etc.

 

Does anybody have any advise or experiences they could share with me on how they did it and with what.

 

Thanks in anticipation............

[Geoff]

Well firstly you'll need co-operation from your RBC. Without their blessing this will go nowhere fast. That said, a few obvious options spring to mind:

 

1) Citrix. Either natively or over https.

2) Webfolders/WebDAV over https.

3) Sharepoint.

4) A VLE, Moodle or similar.

 

Option 1 costs money (especially licensing) and will be fiddly if you don't have existing Citrix infrastructure but it'll be the nicest experience for end users. You'll need a spare server for this.

 

Option 2 requires your file server to run IIS. You have to be really careful about security with this one. Webfolders on XP can be a little troublesome too sometimes.

 

Option 3 easy, pay microsoft money and it works. You get lots of other fun stuff thrown in too. Plus it looks pretty. Extra hardware will probably be required. End users need to remember to store things in sharepoint.

 

Option 4 variable, depends how good you are with LAMP servers (if you use Moodle) or expensive (if you go with a 3rd party proprietry VLE). Gets you on the VLE bandwagon. You'll need spare hardware. End users need to remember to upload things. You'll have to train teachers on how to use the VLE efficently too.

[CyberNerd]

also check Suns tarrentella server - cheaper option than Citrix to run over TS.

Also FreeNX is good for *nix and can run rdp sessions.

 

We've gone for a mixture of Moodle and Citrix - as we have a thin client network in school anyway

[tom_newton]

What sort of access do they need? To my (albeit untrained in the education/RA side of things) eye it seems overkill to provide RDP or such - i'd go for a VPN (l2tp or similar, not too hard to set up) and then a fileshare, or one of these web filesharing thingies - just so they can get to the work, and not software/etc.

[CyberNerd]

If you just need remote file access I'd recommend filesurfer from precedence

http://www.precedence.co.uk/products/filesurfer/

 

If your teachers set homework that requires proprietry applications then you'll need to go for a web access/terminal server solution - you'll discriminate against poorer families if you require them to buy windows/ms office and all the other apps that you run.

[Cowman]

Wow, thanks for the replies.

 

We've tried the VLE route and it's not working, teachers don't like it as they say it's complcated to maintain??

 

We want to give the students access to applications such as MS office and shared data stored on the network, this would we feel do away with the need for a 'VLE'.

 

I think the whole VLE thing is getting a bit elitist really and I have tried to point this out at every meeting I've attended.

 

We conducted a survey and 17% of our students don't even have a pc at home!

 

Looks like the Citrix route for me........

 

Thanks

[plexer]

So then whatever you do will discriminate against that 17% I don't see having a vle as an elitest thing as they can be relatively simple to setup and maintain I think the problem with them is the same as a website or anything else the teaching staff won't maintain them so it comes back to techs.

 

Allowing pupils to run apps ala citrix or whatever is going to invlove more cost and time on your behalf than just allowing access to files.

 

You don't need them to have office installed to open word and excel documents etc... they can use openoffice.

 

Any setup on your behalf is going to require your RBC opening ports up on your router and their firewalls for this access. Have you asked them if they allready have any sort of remote access product?

 

Ben

[plexer]

You could also look at sslexplorer the community version is a bit more difficult to setup now as things have moved on from the previous version and the enterprise version costs.

 

http://www.sshtools.com/showSslExplorerCommunity.do

 

Ben

[tom_newton]

@plexer: See your with me in the Keep It Simple camp Have used sslexplorer - it's good kit. Met the guys behind it at InfoSec a few years back, and can vouch for them being "nice lads" as well

[Cowman]

Thanks again, I've just had a quick look at the sslexplorer and it looks good.

 

It certainly would fit in with my 'keep it simple' ethos, one question though to you experienced users:

 

How secure is it??

[NetworkGeezer]

@tom_newton

 

VPN and students no!!!

 

It's bad enough extending the network boundary to staff homes (Win9x anyone?) but student bedrooms or cyber cafes. Yikes! That's just asking for trouble.

[plexer]

Cowman: It's an ssl enabled web based vpn solution that uses active directory to authorise your users.

 

I'd say it's secure enough.

 

Ben

[Cowman]

Tell me about NetwrokGeezer, unfortunately I've been asked about this, given advise on it. Now I've been 'asked' to provide it.

[Cowman]

Point taken Plexer, the thought of students having remote access makes me twitch in unnatural ways!

[NetworkGeezer]

Cowman: It's an ssl enabled web based vpn solution that uses active directory to authorise your users.

 

I'd say it's secure enough.

 

Ben

 

All that authentication and tunnelling won't help you if the client has already been botted.

[plexer]

Have you seen how SSL explorer and other SSL vpn systems of this type work? they expose your users files as a web page where you can download and upload files and allow access to school intranet sites. If the client has been zombied they aren't going to gain much.

 

Ben

[NetworkGeezer]

There has to be a catch somewhere this seems all to good to be true.

[Guest]

Anyone here have experience of SSL Explorer via AD LDAP?

 

Thought I would have a play but wont accept any LDAP settings.

[CyberNerd]

anyone seen or used knowledgetree

http://www.ktdms.com/

 

I'm not sure you'd use it for remote access (bit busy and not read it but saw on RSS)

[Joedetic]

webdav over HTTPS from an IIS webserver with the nice bit of CSS that enables iexplore folderview

[webman]

We use RM CC3's WebDAV implementation, aka Easylink.

[plexer]

Not used SSL in an AD environment as I can't use it at work atm but have you read:

 

http://3sp.com/kb/idx/18/080/article/How_can_I_setup_Active_Directory_authentication_on_my_SSLExplorer_server.html

 

Ben

[snrweb]

Don't dismiss Ranger Outpost as its a simple idiot-proof method of giving remote access to files for students. Its dirt cheap and secure as well.

 

All it needs is a port forwarded (is that real english?) to one of your DCs.

 

Its a good way for a site to actually see if remote access is really something that would be used and if so, then maybe explore something more sophisticated.

 

You can download a test client program from here.

 

http://www.rangersuite.com/products/outpost/index.asp

[ITWombat]

I like the logging features in ranger Outpost but I think for the price SSL Explorer Enterprise Edition offers more. For £1249 you get unlimmited connections, reverse proxy, network extension, SMS authentication as well as the WebDAV sttuff you get with Outpost.

[GrumbleDook]

I've just picked up the latest stuff on remote access from Becta's technical and functional specifications on IT Infrastructure ...

 

I'll peruse and see if they have any specific targets that we need to discuss.