Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Secure connection through DirectAccess in Windows 7

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems introduces a feature named DirectAccess. It allows remote users to securely access enterprise shares, Web sites, and applications without connecting to a virtual private network (VPN). DirectAccess establishes bi-directional connectivity with a user’s enterprise network every time a user’s DirectAccess-enabled portable computer connects to the Internet, even before the user logs on. Users never have to think about connecting to the enterprise network, So that IT administrators can manage remote computers outside the office, even when the computers are not connected to the VPN.

DirectAccess uses IPv6-over-IPsec to encrypt communications transmitted across the Internet. DirectAccess is designed to reduce unnecessary traffic on the corporate network by sending only traffic destined for the corporate network through the DirectAccess server (running Windows Server 2008 R2), However the administrator can choose to send all traffic through the corporate network. DirectAccess can also authenticate the user and supports multifactor authentication. Administrators can configure which intranet resources specific users can access using DirectAccess.

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