Windows Home Server For Dummies.pdf

This e-book is a

40-page excerpt

of the printed book.

This e-book is a

40-page excerpt

of the printed book.

Windows Home Server For Dummies ®

Chapter 10: Starting Remote Access

Chapter 17: Breaking into the Server

ISBN: 978-0-470-18592-6

Indianapolis, Indiana

Chapter 10

Starting Remote Access

In this Chapter

Understanding Remote Access — its benefits and potential problems

Convincing Windows Home Server that you really want to access your network from afar

Poking holes in recalcitrant routers

Poking different holes in pesky Internet service providers’ defenses

Getting logged on for the first time

I f Windows Home Server’s Remote Access feature works for you the first

If it takes you a bit of wrangling (either with your router or with your Internet

service provider) to get Remote Access working, take solace in the fact that

it’s well worth the hassle. Hang in there. You can do it.

With Remote Access enabled and all the pieces put together properly, you can

hop onto a computer anywhere in the world, fire up a Web browser, and . . .

Upload and download files between your server’s shared folders and the

computer you’re using (see Figure 10-1).

Run the Windows Home Server console, if you know the server’s password.

Remotely connect to some of the PCs on your home or office network

and take control of the PC as if you were sitting in front of it — plus or

minus a (substantial) time lag, anyway. For details (including important,

not-so-obvious restrictions), see the next section.

Any way you slice it, Remote Access rates as one of the best Windows Home

Server features.

time, you live a charmed life. I’ve set up Remote Access on many net-

works, and it seems that no two work the same way.

166

Part IV: Sharing in the Wild

Figure 10-1:

You can use

a Web

browser to

get into your

server from

anywhere in

the world.

Remote Access — the Good, the Bad,

and the Really Frustrating

If you decide to enable Remote Access through your Windows Home Server,

you can log on to your home or office network from anywhere in the world,

using any Web browser, upload and download files, and even “take control” of

a PC on the network, pulling its strings like a puppet, in a way that’s not too

dissimilar to sitting down in front of the computer and typing away.

Except . . . but . . . er . . . well, Remote Access doesn’t quite work that way, and

it can be an absolute monster to set up. There. I warned you.

Remote Access’s problems, by and large, aren’t Microsoft’s fault. They’re con-

genital. By its very nature, Remote Access has to poke through your broadband

router (you may call it a “modem,” even though it isn’t technically a modem),

and every router’s different. Confounding the problem, many Internet Service

Providers play fast and loose with your network’s address, making it very diffi-

cult to find your network, or they may block incoming connections entirely to

keep you from setting up a Web server on your consumer Internet account.

Before you take the plunge and try to get Remote Access working on your

network, carefully consider these somewhat embarrassing facts:

Few Remote Access installations, at least in my experience, go

through immediately and without hassles. There are almost always

niggling details. To look at it another way, almost all of Windows Home

Server works great for an absolute novice, from the get-go, with few

required machinations and not that many moving parts. But Remote

Chapter 10: Starting Remote Access

167

Access is a horse of a considerably more complex color. It isn’t plug-and-

play. Isn’t even plug-and-swear. It goes outside the box — literally and

figuratively — and, unless you’re extremely lucky, getting it to work

takes some pushing and pulling.

Remote Access opens up your network to the outside world. If you set

things properly, there is little security exposure to having your Remote

Access enabled network hacked by The Bad Guys. But if you do some-

thing stupid — like give away a remote logon id and password to a

friend, who passes it on to another friend — you can kiss your system

security goodbye.

Many people think they can control any computer on their network

via Remote Access. Ain’t true. When you’re working remotely, you can

only take control of PCs that are running Windows XP Pro, XP Media

Center Edition, XP Tablet, Vista Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate. That’s

it. XP Home, Vista Home Basic, and Vista Premium PCs aren’t sufficiently

endowed to do the “puppet” shtick.

I don’t mean to put you off. I love Remote Access and use it all the time, even

though it was a bear to set up on my home office network. I also take great

care to make sure none of my Remote Access user names leak out — and the

passwords would tie your tongue, much less your typing fingers. (Word to

the wise there.)

An Overview of Remote Access Setup

Still with me? Good. Remote Access is worth the sweat. No pain no, uh, pain.

Something like that.

At the very highest level, and in the best of all possible worlds, here’s how

you get Remote Access working:

1. Fire up the Windows Home Server Console and tell WHS that you want

it to start responding to inquiries from the great, cold outside world.

That part’s easy.

2. Enable Remote Access for one or more user names (er, logon IDs).

These user names have to have “strong” passwords, and they’re the only

ones allowed to log on to the server remotely.

3. Poke a hole through your router.

Aye, there’s the rub. Er, hub. You have to set things up so somebody

trying to get to your Windows Home Server server from out on the

Internet can get past the router far enough to get into the server. Some

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