Windows 7 feature DirectAccess

Posted Date: 27-Jul-2010		Category: Microsoft Windows
Author: D.Jeya Kumar(JK)	Member Level: Diamond
Rating:	Points: 25 (Rs 15)

This article explains Windows 7 DirectAccess feature which is similar to VPN to access the corporate network with secure access through DirectAccess server

Windows 7 Feature Direct Access

Windows 7 includes many interesting and useful features. One of such feature is DirectAccess. It is used to connect to the remote office remote like VPN. DirectAccess is also a secured network. It allows the remote users to connect to the office or corporate network using secured network connection. Connection to the remote machine will be established automatically in DirectAccess. This Feature is available only in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. DirectAccess increases the productivity by gives the connection which is fast like a intranet network.

Benefits of using DirectAccess

DirectAccess improves the productivity by providing the speed like working in an intranet network. Without DirectAccess you can use the VPN for remote connection which is slow compared to DirectAccess. System Admin can work from home to access the Local group settings, Active Directory and other admin activities.

DirectAccess gives secure network and easy to connect the remote network through internet. It uses the latest technologies like IPV6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) and IPSec (Internet Protocol Security). DirectAccess will authenticate the user to connect to the intranet using smart cards. Secured data transfer between the computers via IPSec as it encrypts the data. We can allow or block the access to the certain users in intranet or allowing the users to use the specific applications on specific server machines

DirectAccess divides the internet and intranet traffic which eliminate the unnecessary traffic by using the DirectAccess server to communicate with the remote machines.

Unified Access Gateway (UAG) will simply the deployments and improved the scalability.

Requirement to use the DirectAccess

DirectAccess requires some requirements in order to implement DirectAccess functionality in office network.

DirectAccess server is supported in Windows Server 2008 R2, so it requires Windows Server 2008 R2 as a server and that should be part of the AD DS domain

DirectAccess client is supported in Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate editions, client machine should be installed with DirectAccess client in order to communicate the DirectAccess server. DirectAccess client should be a member of the office network AD DS domain

DirectAccess requires 2 network cards, one will be connected with internet and other will connected to the corporate office network.

A Domain controller and a DNS server is required in Windows Server 2008 R2 in order to work with DirectAccess

DirectAccess requires a public Key infrastructure in order to issue certificate to the computer.

For more information about the DirectAccess check the below link

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/directaccess-faq.aspx

Step by Step instruction to configure the DirectAccess document can be download from the below link

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=8d47ed5f-d217-4d84-b698-f39360d82fac

To setup a test lab and test the DirectAccess functionality check the below link

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=8d47ed5f-d217-4d84-b698-f39360d82fac

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