You’re going to hear a lot about DirectAccess on this blog and on the ISAserver.org web site over the next year. There are several reasons for this:
- It’s Microsoft’s “secret weapon” for providing the most elegant and seamless remote access solution ever created
- Users love it, and it does make them more productive
- IT loves it, because they can manage all domain computers, even though the computers never return to the corpnet
- Computers love it, because they are completely manageable by IT, and stay in compliance and have the same security profile as those that never leave the corpnet
- It’s always on, users can always connect, and “it just works” – users and IT see the DA client as just another computer on the corpnet
However, there are different flavors of DA. There is the Windows DA, which supports a basic, small or mid sized business deployment. However, if you want a highly available solution that supports all the resources your have (both IPv4 and IPv6) then you’ll want to use the UAG DA solution.
One of the great things about the UAG DA solution is that you actually need to know almost nothing about IPv6 and get a working DA solution in place now. This is great news, if you’re a harried network admin who keeps hearing from the boss “we need something better than VPN – I’m tired of VPN and it’s limitations, just give me something that works!”
Jason does a great job discussing the details of what DA platform is best of you, so check out his blog article over at:
http://blog.msedge.org.uk/2010/01/path-to-directaccess-part-1-choosing.html
HTH,
Deb
DEBRA LITTLEJOHN SHINDER
MVP (Enterprise Security)
“MS SECURITY”
[email protected]