Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting

by Jordan Krause

Secure and efficient functioning of your DirectAccess environment Overview In Detail DirectAccess is an amazing Microsoft technology that is truly the evolution of VPN; any Microsoft-centric shop needs this technology. DirectAccess is an automatic remote access solution that takes care of everything from planning to deployment. Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting will provide you with the precise steps you need to take for the very best possible implementation of DirectAccess in your network. You will find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions from administrators and explore unique troubleshooting scenarios that you will want to understand in case they happen to you. Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting outlines best practices for configuring DirectAccess in any network. You will learn how to configure Manage Out capabilities to plan, administer, and deploy DirectAccess client computers from inside the corporate network. You will also learn about a couple of the lesser-known capabilities within a DirectAccess environment and the log information that is available on the client machines. This book also focuses on some specific cases that portray unique or interesting troubleshooting scenarios that DirectAccess administrators may encounter. By describing the problem, the symptoms, and the fixes to these problems, the reader will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the way DirectAccess works and why these external influences are important to the overall solution. What you will learn from this book Approach This book covers best practices and acts as a complete guide to DirectAccess and automatic remote access. Who this book is written for Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting is an ideal guide for any existing or future DirectAccess administrator and system administrators who are working on Windows Server 2012. This book will also be beneficial for someone with a basic knowledge of networking and deployment of Microsoft operating systems and software who wants to learn the intricacies of DirectAccess and its interfaces.

116 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Senthil Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The “Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting” book by Microsoft MVP Jordan Krause is an excellent guide for any IT professional that looks forward to implement/ administer/troubleshoot Microsoft DirectAccess technology using Windows server 2012 R2 or Forefront Unified Access Gateway. The book is well written and organized with a great flow to deeply understand the best practices/guide lines, to implement the DirectAccess technology up to the current industrial Security standards, as well as to easily troubleshoot any issues that would hit the desk of a security administrator on a day to day basis.
In the first chapter of the book, the author has given a detailed walk through of the best practices you need to follow as a security professional while you are deploying a windows server in your network.
In the second chapter, the author dives deep in to the DirectAccess technology and walks you through the best practices for implementing DirectAccess. Adding to that, the author had also explained why the mentioned best practices needs to be followed and what types of issues would occur if they were not followed.
In the last two chapters, the author has given the step by step process to follow if you were to troubleshoot any DirectAccess issues. He has given the list of windows server PowerShell commands to check the DirectAccess status on the client and server and what information to look from the output of each commands and to decide the component that’s causing any issues with DirectAccess. The author has also given a detailed explanation of the DCA/NCA logs and how a security administrator can be benefitted by using the tools while troubleshooting issues on a remote client. Especially in the last chapter, the author has discussed about a few unique reoccurring scenarios that he had experienced so far while working with lots of customers and this would greatly help a Direct Access administrator to quickly isolate an issue.
This book is a great companion and will definitely make the life of a security administrator much easier if DirectAccess is implemented as Secure Remote Access solution for mobile employees in your corporate network or if it is a solution that you are looking forward to implement in the near future.