May Bits-N-Bytes

Desktop Valet will take care of your computers so that you can take care of Business!

Call us now to schedule a technician visit at 877-699-9997 or in the Las Vegas Metro Area at 702-553-3200.

Get out more! Work from anywhere.
By William Kapes

In today's world it seems like we are working more and more, staying late at the office more and more, and working weekends. We spend more time sitting behind the desk and less time out in the world enjoying the results of our work. How often do we feel that we can't take a vacation because we can't be away from our email and computers for that long? But by taking advantage of some new technologies, you can have access to all your computer data and the network from anywhere, at anytime.

Remote access can take a number of forms. These include Web Access to email, VPN access to your company's network and remote control of your office computer. Accessing your email from offsite is usually the first experience people have for remote access. Usually this takes the form of webmail, accessing your work email from any location where you have access to a web browser. If your corporate network supports web access you can go to something like https://mail.company.com and once you login you will have access to your email from anywhere. The webmail interface usually isn't quite as good as your desktop mail program, like Outlook, but it does allow you to send and receive messages, get attached documents, and access your contacts from anywhere.

If you run a small business and would like webmail access, we recommend Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 (SBS). Not only does it provide web access to your email, but you can also get to your desktop machine from a web browser, and work remotely as if you were sitting in front of it. SBS 2003 also provides an intranet infrastructure, Exchange email with Outlook, and centralized storage and backup.

If you need or would like to work from offsite but would like to run all your desktop applications, you need to get a secure connection to your work network. To create a secure connection, keeping your data safe and encrypted between your home and office, a VPN or virtual private network is used. A VPN establishes a "tunnel" or encrypted stream of data between your home machine and your office network, scrambling the data at one end, sending it across the public internet, and descrambling it at the other end. With a VPN connection your machine appears to be on the work network, giving you access to shared files and network applications like email and databases. A VPN can also be used to link two offices, creating a single "virtual" network that spans the distance between them.

At Desktop Valet we use the Sonicwall line of VPN appliances. They provide excellent reliability and world class security at competitive prices.

The latest development in mobile working addresses the final hurdle most people face when taking work on the road. That is getting a good connection to the Internet from anywhere. Without an Internet connection you cannot use webmail, or a VPN, nor do just about any kind of communication. More and more the Internet is the primary tool we use for communication and being cut off from it can be crippling to productivity. However recent advances in cellular technology provide broadband speeds from almost any location at affordable prices. At Desktop Valet we recommend and use Wireless Broadband Access from Sprint. Utilizing the latest EVDO technology Sprint allows for Internet access from almost anywhere you can get a cellular signal at often better than DSL speeds. With Wireless Broadband from Sprint, you can access webmail or a VPN from anywhere, anytime for about $59 per month.

So by using some of these technologies you can stay connected to your important work from any location, staying in touch and productive while not chained to your desk.

To implement any of the technologies discussed above, contact Desktop Valet and an experienced engineer will ensure you choose the right solution.

William Kapes is a senior network engineer with Desktop Valet. He has been in the I.T. industry for over 6 years and can be reached at williamk@DesktopValet.com.