Access the CEC Network via an ISP and VPN
In order to access your home directory on the college’s network from an Internet connection, you will need to setup a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection on your computer. You will only need to do this if you will be connecting via the Internet from a cable modem, DSL connection, or some other connection that uses the Internet.
Note: You must keep your computer up to date with Windows updates and anti-virus definitions. Remote access users with computers not properly patched will have remote access privileges revoked.
Verify your computer is fully patched and virus-free before connecting.
Windows 98: Detailed Instructions
STEP 1: Install Dial-Up Networking on your computer
If you have not already installed the latest version of Dial-Up Networking on your computer then you must do this first. Patches for the latest version can be downloaded from Microsoft's web site. The VPN connector that you will use to connect is located in the Dial-Up Networking service even though you may not be actually dialing through a conventional modem. Since not all clients are the same please see your specific client’s instructions and help files for installing Dial-Up Networking.
STEP 2: Install Virtual Private Network Adapter
Once Dial-Up Networking is installed you can now install the Virtual Private Network Adapter (VPN). This is not a hardware device as the name "adapter" implies, but is simply a piece of software that handles the VPN communications between your computer the VPN server.
- Go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel
- Open the Network icon.
- Click the Add button, select Adapter and click Add again.
- On the Manufacturers list on the left select Microsoft; on the list on the right select Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter, then click OK.
- Select OK again to exit the Network settings window. If the files for the adapter are not already on your computer it ask for your operating system CD in order to install them.
- Once installed you may be asked to restart your computer. Restart computer.
STEP 3: Create a new connection in Dial-Up Networking
Once the VPN Adapter software has been installed you will want to go to your Dial-Up Networking folder and create the icon for your VPN Adapter using the Make New Connection icon.
- Open the My Computer icon and then open the Dial-Up Networking icon.
- Open the Make New Connection icon to create the connector for configuring for the VPN adapter.
- In the first field give your new connection a name to identify it (eg Connect to Engineering network via VPN). Then in the select device field select the "Microsoft VPN Adapter" that you installed in Part Two.
- Press Next and then enter the address of the Point to Point Tunneling Protocol VPN server. In this case it is "a-pptp.engr.sc.edu". Again press Next > and then Finish the connection.
- Now you will need to edit the properties of your new connection. Right click the connection icon you just made and select Properties, and select the Server Types tab.
- In the Advanced Options area please select the following options, otherwise your connection may not work: Logon to Network, Require encrypted password, and Require data encryption>.
- The Enable software compression selection is optional and not required. See your client's instructions for additional information.
- For the Allowed Network Protocols area be sure to only select TCP/IP. Do not select NetBEUI and IPX/SPX.
- Once TCP/IP has been selected, click the TCP/IP Settings… button. There are only three options you have to select here. The setting for Use IP header compression is optional but not required; but you must select the following: Server assigned IP address, Server assigned name server addresses, Use default gateway on remote network.
- Choose OK and then OK again to back out of those screens.
STEP 4: Connecting Using your VPN Adapter
Before connecting with the VPN connector be sure you are logged into the client computer with the same username and password that you use in the Engineering domain, otherwise it will prompt you again for it, or it may not be able to connect.
Double click the icon you just configured and enter your username and password, and press Connect. It will then go through the process of connecting. It may ask your for your username and password if it does not have the correct ones. Also if there are errors you may want to look them up in Microsoft's Knowledge Base here.
STEP 5: Mapping a drive on your local computer to your network storage space
Once connected you can now attach to the file server and access your network storage or another computer on our network if you know the name and the share. Please note that browsing using the Network Neighborhood icon will not work due to security blocks placed at the universities firewall. You can still connect to available shares though if you know the name of the host and name of the share. To connect to your network share on the file server here are a few ways.
OPTION 1
You may use the run command by clicking Start -> Run command and enter the following: \\engr_asu.engr.sc.edu\Z_your-user-name$. Put your user name where it says YOUR-USER-NAME and don't forget the $ on the end. This will open a window directly to your personal share space on the file server. Example: User name "smith5" maps to "\\engr_asu.engr.sc.edu\z_smith5$".
OPTION 2
Or you may map a drive with Windows Explorer using the same information above. To do this in Windows Explorer select the Tools menu, then Map Network Drive. Then select the drive letter (H:) you want mapped to your share and enter the information listed above into the Path field. You can also map a network drive by right clicking on the Network Neighborhood icon on the desktop.
If you are logged onto a computer with a different username than the one you need to use to access the destination computer then you should also select the Connect using a different user name link and enter the correct username and password. Most likely this is the case if you are connecting remotely. If the source computer and destination computer are not in the same Windows domain then you will mostly need to enter both the domain and username so the destination computer will know which domain to authenticate you from. There are two formats for the college's domain. They are: engineering\username and username@engr.sc.edu.
Tips on computer names:
Often times it is necessary to enter what we call the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of a computer in order to find it on the network. Usually this is not necessary when you are physically on the college's network, however, it is best used by remote users attaching via the Internet, Dial-Up and VPN connections. The FQDN of a computer is name of the computer concatenated with the name of the Internet domain to which the computer belongs.
For example, if your computer is named "CSE-HACKTRON2000" then your FQDN would be cse-hacktron2000.cse.sc.edu. Most computers are automatically configured to search in their own domain when attempting to attach to another computer, so if the source machine and the destination machine are in the same domain then FQDN may not be necessary. Specifying the FQDN will always uniquely identify the destination computer regardless of your location or destination.
How do I determine my computer's name or FQDN?
If you are using Windows 2000 or XP you can find out the FQDN of the machine you are using by right clicking on the "My Computer" icon on the desktop and selecting Properties. Then select the Network Identification tab. There it will tell you your FQDN and your domain.
Also from the logon screen you can select the drop down list of the "Log on to:" field. The name of the local machine as well as the Windows domain or workgroup will be listed.
