Step 4 - Configure remote access

Now you have configured the firewall and connected your VDC to the public internet you need to decide how to connect to your servers. There are three ways to accomplish this. They are:

1. Using KVM access
2. Configuring port forwarding
3. Configuring a VPN

There are pros and cons for each approach.

KVM connections will always work regardless of the state or configuration of your firewall or network, as such it is very useful when things have been misconfigured. It is quite a slow connection so only recommended for situations when normal remote access isn't working.

Port forwarding is easy to setup but needs to be done for each server you want remote access to.

A virtual private network (VPN) is more complex to setup but only needs to be done once and gives complete access to your datacentre private network

KVM Access (Windows only)

1. Ensure Java is installed and running (see getting started step 1 for details)
2. Click 'Details' for the machine you want to connect to
3. Click ‘Remote Console’, then take a copy of the VNC Password and click the ‘Remote Console’ button.
4. A window will pop up requesting VNC Authentication. Paste the password into the box, click ok and then your server’s desktop should appear

Port Forwarding 

Using the port forwarding features of a firewall you can map any ports on the firewall’s public IP address to any machine on the private network. Eg. You can map ports 80 & 443 on the firewall to your web server or load balancer. You could also map any port to your servers remote desktop (RDP) or SSH ports for remote access and administration. You can then start a remote desktop session by connecting to the firewalls public ip address on the port that was configured.

NOTE: This allows *all* traffic to the forwarded port which is not recommended. You can use other firewall features to restrict access but using a VPN is preferred.

VPN

Using a VPN is the best way to access your virtual datacentre. A VPN is the most secure form of access and is also the easiest to use once up and running as your desktop is effectively on the same network as your datacentre servers.

Please refer to your client documentation or the knowledgbase for configuration instructions.