Improvements in Mobile Computing in Windows Server 2008 R2

As organizations find their workforce becoming more and more mobile, Microsoft has made significant improvements to mobility in Windows Server 2008 R2. New technologies provide a more seamless experience for users with laptops to move from office, to home, to Internet Wi-Fi hot spots and maintain connectivity to network resources. These improvements do require mobile users to run the latest Windows 7 client operating system on their laptop system to gain access to these new services; however, once implemented, users find the functionality to greatly support easier access to network resources no matter where the user resides.



Windows Server 2008 R2 DirectAccess
One of the significant remote access enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the DirectAccess technology. DirectAccess provides a remote user the ability to access network resources such as file shares, SharePoint shares, and the like without having to launch a virtual private network (VPN) to gain access into the network.

DirectAccess is an amazing technology that combines sophisticated security technology and policy-based access technology to provide remote access to a network; however, organizations do find it challenging to get up to speed with all the technology components necessary to make DirectAccess work. So, although many organizations will seek to achieve DirectAccess capabilities, it might be months or a couple of years before all the technologies are in place for the organization to easily enable DirectAccess in their enterprise environment.

Some of the technologies required to make DirectAccess work include the following:

. PKI certificates—DirectAccess leverages PKI certificates as a method of identification of the remote device as well as the basis for encrypted communications from the remote device and the network. Thus, an organization needs to have a good certificate infrastructure in place for server and client certificate-based encrypted communications.

. Windows 7 clients—DirectAccess only works with clients that are running Windows 7. The client component for encryption, encapsulation, and policy control depend on Windows 7 to make all the components work together.

. IPSec—The policy control used in DirectAccess leverages IPSec to identify the destination resources that a remote user should have access to. IPSec can be endpoint to endpoint (that is, from the client system all the way to the application server) or IPSec can be simplified from the client system to a DirectAccess proxy server where the actual endpoint application servers do not need to be IPSec enabled. In any case, IPSec is a part of the security and policy structure that ensures the remote client system is only accessing server resources that by policy the remote client should have access to as part of the DirectAccess session connection.

. IPv6—Lastly, DirectAccess uses IPv6 as the IP session identifier. Although most organizations have not implemented IPv6 yet and most on-ramps to the Internet are still IPv6, tunneling of IPv6 is fully supported in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and can be used in the interim until IPv6 is fully adopted. For now, IPv6 is a requirement of DirectAccess and is used as part of the remote access solution.



Windows 7 VPN Reconnect
VPN Reconnect is not a Windows Server 2008 R2–specific feature but rather a Windows 7 client feature; however, with the simultaneous release of the Windows 7 client and Windows Server 2008 R2, it is worth noting this feature because Microsoft will be touting the technology and network administrators will want to know what they need to do to implement the technology. VPN Reconnect is simply an update to the VPN client in Windows 7 that reestablishes a VPN session on a client system in the event that the client system’s VPN session is disconnected.

VPN Reconnect effectively acknowledges that a client VPN session has been disconnected and reestablishes the session. Many longtime administrators might wonder why this is new because client systems in the past (Windows XP, Vista, and so forth) have always had the ability to retry a VPN session upon disconnect. However, the difference is that instead of simply retrying the VPN session and establishing a new VPN session, the VPN Reconnect feature of Windows 7 reestablishes a VPN session with the exact same session identification, effectively allowing a session to pick up exactly where it left off.

For example, a Windows 7 client user can be transferring a file on a wired VPN connected session and then switch midstream to a Wi-Fi VPN-connected session, and the file transfer will continue uninterrupted.

VPN Reconnect utilizes the IKE v2 protocol on the client and on the Windows Server 2008 R2 side with an established session identification so that upon reconnect, the session ID remains the same.



Windows 7 Mobile Broadband
Another Windows 7–specific technology for mobile users is Windows 7 Mobile Broadband. Again, something that has nothing to do specifically with Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 Mobile Broadband is an update to the carrier-based (for example, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon) mobile connection devices and services in Windows 7.

In the past, a user plugged in a Mobile Broadband card to their Windows XP or Vista system and then had to launch an application such as the AT&T Connection Manager. With Windows 7 and the latest Mobile Broadband drivers for the device and for Windows 7, the insertion of the Mobile Broadband card into a mobile system automatically connects the user to the Internet. Just like if the user turns on a Wi-Fi adapter in a system and automatically establishes a connection to a Wi-Fi access point, Mobile Broadband automatically connects the user to the Internet.

When the Windows 7 Mobile Broadband adapter is disconnected from the user’s system, the Mobile Broadband session disconnects, and if the system has a Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection available, the user’s system automatically connects to an alternate connection point. Combine Mobile Broadband with VPN Reconnect or with DirectAccess and a mobile user has seamless connection access back into their organization’s network.

Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed

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