Introduction
Celestix Networks recently announced availability of our new secure remote access platform, the E Series Cloud Edge Security Solution. The Cloud Edge Security solution is built with Windows Server 2012 R2 and delivered on the Celestix E Series advanced hardware appliance platform. It is a comprehensive remote access solution that addresses multiple connectivity requirements with a single device, and is designed to provide secure remote access for both managed and non-managed clients, as well as enabling hybrid cloud connectivity for hosted public cloud services. In addition, the Cloud Edge Security solution provides support for new Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) features that will help administrators control access to corporate data wherever it resides.
Remote Access Features
The E Series Cloud Edge Security solution includes many secure remote access features to address numerous remote access requirements. For example:
DirectAccess – DirectAccess is a secure remote access technology designed exclusively for managed Microsoft Windows clients. It provides seamless and transparent, always on, bidirectional corporate network connectivity. Supported on Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate and Windows 8.x Enterprise, DirectAccess provides unparalleled ease of use when compared to traditional VPN technologies. Users on a DirectAccess configured client can access corporate resources outside of the network just as they do inside the network. In addition, administrators can proactively connect to DirectAccess clients to perform remote management and configuration.
Client-Based VPN – For non-managed Windows clients, and other devices, client-based VPN can provide secure remote network connectivity. Supported protocols include PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, SSTP, and IKEv2. Enabling client-based VPN in conjunction with DirectAccess can provide broad secure remote access for the widest variety of client platforms.
Site-to-Site VPN – As organizations begin to move workloads from on-premises systems to public hosted cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers, often these workloads will require access to services and data that still reside in the corporate datacenter. To facilitate this network connectivity and to fully realize a hybrid cloud infrastructure, a site-to-site VPN can be established between the on-premises datacenter and the public cloud provider. Configuration has been simplified with the addition of a wizard-driven interface to quickly and easily configure cross-premises network connectivity to popular hosted cloud providers, like Microsoft® Azure™ and Amazon Web Services®.
Web Application Proxy – This new feature provides secure application publishing for common Intranet applications such as Exchange Outlook Web App (OWA), SharePoint, and many others. Web Application Proxy leverages ADFS to provide secure pre-authentication and conditional access for users accessing corporate applications remotely.
Remote Desktop Gateway/RemoteApp – Remote Desktop publishing is becoming increasingly popular with organizations of all sizes for providing external access to Windows 7 and 8 clients. The Remote Desktop Gateway serves as a secure remote access gateway for users wishing to access their organization’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) or their individual corporate desktops remotely. The Remote Desktop Gateway provides ubiquitous, firewall-friendly access to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions by tunneling that communication using HTTP and SSL/TLS. In addition, application streaming is also supported using the RemoteApp functionality.
Workplace Join/Work Folders – The proliferation of portable computers and mobile devices has made the task of controlling access to corporate data quite challenging. Further complicating matters is the wide availability of file sharing and synchronization services like Microsoft OneDrive, Drop Box, and countless others. When a user leaves the company, they often take with them sensitive data stored on these personal storage services. Workplace Join and Work Folders can work together to address these concerns. Work Folders can be configured to allow data to be synchronized from existing on-premises file servers. With Workplace Join, a user’s personal device can be registered with Active Directory, making it a known and trusted device to domain administrators and allowing for the enforcement of security policy (e.g. lock screen password and data retention policy) on these personal devices. With Workplace Join and Work Folders in place, when a user deregisters their device or leaves the company, the data is still safely under the control of corporate IT and it is no longer accessible on the personal device.
The Celestix Advantage
The Celestix Edge E Series Security solution is designed to meet all of your remote access needs for both managed and non-managed clients alike. In addition it enables cross-premises network connectivity to hosted public cloud IaaS providers, and provides secure remote access to on-premises applications and VDI. It also addresses the access and security concerns associated with BYOD and data synchronization with non-managed consumer devices in general. This comprehensive remote access solution is delivered on the Celestix E Series hardware platform – a compact appliance form factor that reduces time to deployment and eases administrative burden with proprietary features like the front panel Jog Dial and LED display, COMET web-based management user interface, and additional enhancements for configuration and reporting.
Visit https://celestix.com/products/cloud/ for more information.
