Virtual Private Networks (VPN) enable safe and secure access to corporate networks from outside locations. Once established the user generally feels like they are within the corporate network itself (depending on rights set by the administrator). The most common way to do this is with an IPsec based connections. To establish an IPsec connection to a corporate network the user has to have an IPsec client installed and configured on their machine. This has two drawbacks: One IPsec clients are not usually very easy to configure and usually requires the intervention of an administrator. Secondly the user is then tied to that machine and can not use another machine (e.g. Internet Café, Airport launch, onsite customer machine etc.).

An alternative to IPsec based VPN is provided by Collax SSL-VPN. This lets users connect from any machine using a browser to gain access to systems and services. The user simply starts up a browser, types in the corporate URL. Next they are asked to authenticate and if successful a SSL-VPN tunnel is established between this machine and the corporate network. Depending on permissions setup by the administrator the user can then access systems and services that are only normally accessible from the corporate network.

The advantage of this system is that there is no client installation (Clientless VPN) and the user is free to use any internet capable machine.

Remote Desktop Control

Collax SSL-VPN fully supports both the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and the Virtual network Computing (VNC) making is possible to remotely access machines within the corporate network. This means that after authentication and with just a single click and no client side software installations a user can start-up a Java interface and work remotely and securely on a machine inside the corporate network.

Secure Intranet Access from the Web

The reason not to put applications like ERP, Wiki, CRM etc. on an Intranet is for security, but often access to these systems from outside the company would be more than useful. To adapt these systems for external use is not normally an option, but with Collax SSL-VPN this is achieved easily, securely and with no modification to any intranet application.

S-Tunnel: Your Port to Freedom

With Collax SSL-VPN any application whose protocol uses only one port can be used on SSL basis. This means that any traditionally internal based applications can now be used securely from outside the company with no modification. For example an application who’s protocol uses one port and is unencrypted can, with the Collax SSL-VPN, be used from outside safely and securely.

At a Glance: