Networks Server 2003 + Exchange 2003 + VPN

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by planki, 2 Sep 2006.

  1. planki

    planki ...

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    Ive got exchange 2003 running on my server and outlook connects to it locally over my network, this is obviously all fine and dandy as its inside the network.

    however when i go to uni or i am not on my home network i wont be able to access my exchange server so ive got 3 choices with only 2 being viable, they are as follows.

    1) open up the rpc port for exchange to the world and allow my laptop to connect as normal using the FQDN for my server (which it allready uses) however this is extremely insecure.
    2) enable connecting over a http proxy encrypted through ssl and passworded, more secure and reasonably easy to set up and again doesn't involve changing any settings in outlook apart from ticking the box that says to connect over http.
    3) setup a vpn and leave that connected in the background all the time with outlook running over the vpn.

    currently the vpn is my favourite option when im at uni as it means i can easily access my file server aswell etc, but has anyone had any problems with this or has anything extra to suggest?

    my main concern is that my university wont let me vpn into my home network.

    thanks!
     
  2. ex421

    ex421 What's a Dremel?

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    well, I used my ISP email also before going to college, when I went I found out I can check mail but not send it, luckily my ISP has webmail so if someone sends me something on that address I go to the webmail, but i've told most people to email my gmail account from now on...
     
  3. CaseyBlackburn

    CaseyBlackburn Network Techie

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    Why don't you just forward the ports for Exchange server?
     
  4. planki

    planki ...

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    i could forward the ports for exchange indeed as i suggested for the first method but from reading up on the web its not exactly the most secure method as you are leaving your mail server wide open on the internet, not something i fancy doing.
     
  5. koola

    koola Minimodder

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    Option #2 imo.
     
  6. quack

    quack Minimodder

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    Options 2 and 3 are both good. We use both at work.
     
  7. planki

    planki ...

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    im currently favouring option 3 as it means i can still have my drives mapped to my home server, it all just depends on my university network admins. I can't see why they won't let me use a vpn, if they are going to argue that it means that i can download torrents etc using my home network then i will just say i could do that regardless.
     
  8. kenco_uk

    kenco_uk I unsuccessfully then tried again

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    Why don't you set Exchange up so you can access it via it's webmail interface? i.e. www.servername.co.uk/exchange

    link

    VPN should be secure though, particularly through ISA.
     
    Last edited: 2 Sep 2006
  9. planki

    planki ...

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    ive allready done that, and using it through that is my last resort, i just prefer to use outlook. thanks for the link though.

    im not using isa server just my standard little netgear router!
     
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