Remote Access- Is It the Best Option?

Cloud technology has revitalized the need for enterprises to look at remote access as an enterprise tool.  Never has one technology has disappeared and appeared again.  Citrix, Vmware and Microsoft are the key technology providers for Thin Client technologies and the major ISP’s offer managed VPN services.

In the 90’s, there was a strong push towards centralized applications.  Emails, Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP) software used to run in servers and the branch offices or other external networks.  Initially, remote access was through dialups.  “There are cases when people used to spend a day long to get one proper connection to download emails and files for work.  With Internet coming to India, from 1995, Internet based remote access also became a key factor.” Says Mr. Arindam Bhattacharya, Technical Director, InorQ Technologies, an Information Security Services company based in Chennai. “Connecting to Internet and establishing VPN sessions were the main issues.”

With the telecom revolution in the 2000s, India has built better telecom networks.  Around 2008, India advanced into mobile revolution – which led to a major advance in network connectivity. Both these factors lead to an improvement in  the remote access network.  However, the power of the individual desktop had seen a burst of client-centric and de-centralized application, as the power of computing had shifted to client centric applications.

However, with telecom bandwidth becoming more affordable, and   smart phones invading all areas of enterprise,   the question of centralized architecture has arisen.  The growth of data centre technologies also have contributed majorly towards creation of centralized computing and storage infrastructure. The result – aggregation of computing, processing and storage at the centre, and light edge devices at the client side.   Light edge devices mean thin clients, virtual desktops and mobile applications.  The connectivity is secured over Virtual Private Networks ( VPNs) using protocols like Secured Socket Layer protocol.  As we can see, the evolution of Remote Access Technology has moved from remote access servers to VPN’s.

There are definite benefits and the factors of choosing RAS / VPN solutions when it comes to network architecture. “Remote Access Architecture provide a lesser headache to network administrators.   End point security and content filtering are not major issues in a remote access point,” Arindam adds.   The choice of choosing the type of access depends on the application architecture.  Web and mobile clients typically act as ‘thin clients’ and the processing of data happens on the server level – the web layer in a three tier architecture acts as the thin client layer.  Leveraging cloud platforms and robust networks, thin client architecture is the way forward.  So the choice is strategic as it depends on the nature of business, application architecture and the availability of resources to run and manage.  Remote Access provides for a lower total cost of ownership.   The benefits are lucrative at first look. But one has to take into consideration many factors to decide on the choice of technology.

In a remote access, the most important piece is the server.  The servers need to be high performance, intense processing machines – able to handle both server and client side load at the same time.  Usually the client side load is run a different set of servers – which handles both the sessions as well as client I/O.   This layer is typically called the ‘client computing layer’.  Application architecture and hardware purchased are factors that impact the client computing layer.

The biggest challenge of a centralized architecture is also the key for remote access technology.  Loss of an individual server or a group of servers could affect business – as a set of users may not have access at that point in time.  The reasons could be a failure at the server or the storage infrastructure or a site level failure.  Network failures also can cripple productivity of users connecting through remote access.  A business continuity plan for server, storage, and network and data centre security is therefore key.

“The major players in the market are Citrix, Vmware and Microsoft.  They offer multiple products and there are licenses offerings for thin clients,” explains Arindam. “The customer has to understand the  TCO in terms of service and licensing models.”  The Remote Access Server ( RAS) is made of remote access server and concentrator is undergoing a transformation as enterprises move more toward managed network services and Virtual Private networks.

Dial-up clients are handling ever increasing call density – serving the needs of ISPs, with capability to handle a wide variety of devices like ISDN, DSL, Wi-Fi and the likes at the top end of the spectrum. At the very low end, a market is emerging for units designed to meet the needs of very small offices with local remote access connectivity needs. HP and Cisco are now the dominant providers, and they are focusing upon the large carrier solutions required by telecom carriers and ISPs. There are still a wide variety of smaller players in this market serving niche areas, but the in the way ahead, RAS devices will be part of the telco equipment side of the network. Enterprises will increasingly focus upon remote access as a network service. Carriers and VPN Providers Remote access service as a part of an overall VPN strategy is generally considered the wave of the future.

This being the case, there are a variety of ways in which a VPN service can be installed, ranging from a complete CPE-based strategy; to a completely managed VPN network service provided by a carrier, and opening remote access to a global system of PoPs. Outsourcing can include anything from all to none, making it difficult to determine who market leaders are. All ISPs are in some way involved, for example, as are all network providers, including telecom carriers.

One area which is of particular importance, however, is the outsourced, managed VPN provider market. The remote access marketplace is clearly moving away from remote access servers and toward VPNs that establish connections through a carrier’s PoPs. Vendors like Vodafone, Reliance, Airtel offer point to point VPN and MPLS VPN solutions.   Global MPLS market is expected to grow to USD 47 Billion by the year 2020 according to Gartner.

Most enterprises have also continued to move toward outsourcing of other aspects of direct access, including network management and security.  Wide area network connects the remote device with the server infrastructure.  Considering the criticality that multiple users would connect WAN – multi-homed connection is key for uninterrupted sessions between the thin client and server farm.  The managed VPN market is growing fast as it not only accommodates the traditional WAN network but also remote access.  “Although outsourcing may be more expensive in some situations than an in-house solution, it provides the advantage of more points of presence, continuous monitoring, and scalability. Service level agreements (SLA’s) are key can also be put into place to ensure remote workers have adequate access to required communications,” Arindam says.

Thin client and managed VPN solutions with cloud hosting service providers would be key players in the remote access market.   With customers willing to completely outsource the services, the market is rightly poised for a burst of growth.