Is RAS required for access to public folders from external sales forc

[NEFF]

If so what is the most inexpensive method for setting up ras<br>I need to set this up quickly and as cost effective as possible. I have an Ascend pipeline 50 and was also wondering if that could be used.

 

[firesign]

not really.. if u are connected to the net 24/7<br>there are alternatives!<br>

 

[NEFF]

My Exchange server is connected 24/7 but I'm not sure as to how this can be acomplished.<br>I want to have Sales be able to dial up, connect to the internet and be able to connect to my Exch Srvr as if they were connected internally to the LAN.<br>Is this a pipedream or is there a possibility using one of the alternatives you mentioned<br>

 

[firesign]

ok, <br>  lets say you have 10 people in sales. Then you would<br>need at least 8 modems connected to the server and  8 seperate lines. (talking bear minimum here).<br>  <br>   Question: why dial up via a RAS connection to your server ?<br><br>   They can all use a company internet account to access the net ... and from there initiate a PPTP to your server.<br>They will then have authorized access to your network.<br>And access to the exchange server, for mail.

 

[NEFF]

Firesign,<br><br>Can you point me in the right direction on that.<br>I have limited knowledge of PPTP and would appreciate a kick start......<br><br><br>Thanks.

 

[Zelandakh]

For public folders in Exchange you can set up Outlook Web Access.<br><br>This only starts to get difficult if you have a firewall. Install the (custom) feature for OWA, create a &quot;log on locally&quot; group that can (oddly enough) log on locally, add the relevant users to the group and give access rights for connecting to the http service to this group (I think I got that right anyway).<br><br>Then they type in <A HREF="

http://yourserver.yourdomain.com/exchange"

TARGET="_new">

http://yourserver.yourdomain.com/exchange</A>

and away everyone goes without compromising your security. The other big benefit is that they can do it from anywhere on the Internet, not just via their laptops.

 

[NEFF]

I have tried to push the OWA option but Sales doesn't want to have to be connected to receive or look at e-mail or reply to email.<br>They want to be able to download and then reply while in flight or travelling or in hotel room at thier &quot; leisure&quot;. That type of thing.<br>Thanks <br><br>I am going to read up on PPTP as well as VPN.&nbsp;&nbsp;Is your opinion&nbsp;&nbsp;that these are viable/possible alternatives????