Advice on how schools
can connect into their
servers remotely
Steve Prentice
Ian Gover
eLearning and Information Management
Support Services for Education
[email protected]
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Scenario
You want to enable your staff to work remotely either on documents or on the school’s network so
that they can, for example access SIMS data from home.
Scope
There are various options and methods open to you. The level of your school’s budget, the number
of people that you want to have access, the type of access, technical resources and expertise for this
project will determine which solution you go for.
Options
Your options within the scope above are to consider cloud based solutions just to access documents,
access to SIMS online, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Virtual Private Network (VPN) or a remote
control utility.
External Tech Support companies might already be providing you with a solution and will give you
good advice on how to implement solutions – you do however have to ask the right questions.
Cloud Based Solutions
If you want staff just to access documents then you should consider using a secure cloud based
solution such as Somerset Learning Platform (SLP) or within the OneDrive for Business offered as
part of Office365. Many schools have their own cloud based solutions for storing and sharing
documents especially within VLEs. In all cases solutions used should be designed for schools and not
personal solutions such as Dropbox as there are issues around Data Security. Many of these
solutions are offered at no extra cost.
Access to SIMS online
SIMs Learning Gateway offers a way into some aspects of the SIMS package for schools. The SIMs
teacher App has also recently been introduced and details can be seen here: http://el.im/MISTeachApp.
There will be additional costs in having these services. The eLIM MIS team will give you advice about
either of these two solutions.
Remote Desk Protocol (RDP)
RDP stands for Remote Desktop Protocol (also sometimes referred to as Terminal Services). This
would give you the ability to remotely access the school server seeing a ’virtual’ desktop using any
software that is available to the school.
When at home you could then connect from any device that supports RDP client software, such as a
Windows PC, Apple MAC or various tablet PCs. The benefit of this type of system is that it allows
multiple people in one go to access all of your school resources including network files and drives
without downloading anything directly to your home PCs whilst all using a fairly small amount of
your Internet bandwidth. It’s a feature rich environment and can be well controlled and secured.
However the system can be the most expensive option as it requires a dedicated server, software
licences from Microsoft and support for installing it and looking after it.
If you have external technician support you should get in contact with them. They will have
packages that can supply this type of service. There may be additional costs which covers hardware,
licences and software. There will be changes that need to be made to the network settings which
may have to be completed by the school rather than the support company.
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If you have internal technician support then they may well be able to set up this service having
purchased the necessary hardware and software. If they feel uncomfortable in providing this service
then there is no problem with contracting this out to a Technical Support company.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. You would install a hardware device in your school called a
VPN concentrator which connects to your school Internet. You would then install a VPN software
client on your work laptop, and take it home. You would use the VPN client on your laptop to
connect to your school’s VPN concentrator which creates a very secure link to your laptop and
extends your school’s network to it over the Internet. You would then use your work laptop as
usual. This system is cheaper than the RDP solution above, and is very secure. However because
you’re not working on a remote view you would download all data that you’re working with to your
laptop which could be quite a high use for your Internet bandwidth when working with large files.
For these reasons, according to your school policies, it would more than likely mean you can only
use authorised work devices, and not your home PCs.
Again either internal tech support, if they are able or an external tech support company would be
able to supply you with a solution.
Remote Control Utility
The other end of the spectrum is the solution which requires you to buy a product which would
allow you to leave your computer on in the school and connect to it remotely from your PC at home.
When evaluating remote control utility solutions please remember that although some products
offer a free home use license this does not cover use within education, and as such you will more
than likely need to buy licences for the software.
You should be aware that your school PC will need to be left on costing you money in power
consumption and potentially shortening its life. It will need to be configured not to go to sleep
otherwise you won’t be able to connect to it.
In many cases the web address used will need to be allowed through the schools filter.
Remote Desktop Protocol (no cost alternative)
For schools that have access to a suitable technical person, then there are ‘free’ alternatives you
could consider. The technical person could request some external IP addresses from SWGfL along
with firewall changes to open up RDP ports. At that point a dedicated PC (one per IP address that
you manage to obtain via your request) could be left turned on somewhere, with its Remote
Desktop option enabled. That would allow someone to access the PC from home when using the
correct IP address and username and password details. This would only be a suitable solution for a
few people to use and is an alternative that may be appropriate for some smaller schools.
Although this is seen as a ‘no cost’ solution it does depend on the time and abilities of your tech
support.
If your school is a little larger then your technical person may be able to advise and install a Remote
Desktop Gateway server to allow access to many more PCs in one go, however this will no longer be
‘free’ and will require appropriate licencing and a server to run on, at which point you should
reconsider the ‘costed’ RDP option in this document.
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Asking for changes to network of filter settings
With many of these solutions changes may need to be made to the network allowing external
computers through network security devices. Changes to the network will have to be made include
will need to be made by the SWGfL helpdesk by logging a change request with their support desk. In
some cases changes will be needed to the filtering system.
Summary
Consider these questions
What are the learning (admin) gains you are
trying to achieve?
What do you want access to?
Who do you want to have access?
How much money have you got?
What is the quality (and frequency) of your tech
support?
Work / life balance, VLEs, Cloud resourcing
Documents, MIS, Software
Pupils, All staff, some staff
Over a thousand, limited, none
Good, limited, poor
Remote access can be achieved in all schools and in some cases at very little cost.
If having read this document and if you want more information or help on how enable this at your
school then get in touch with [email protected]
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Connect remotely to schools
•Cons
•needs a server and
licenses
•Expensive solution
•Staff
•Pros
•access to network
drives
•most secure option
•Cons
•additional
hardware at school
•software download
needed on laptops
•staff need laptop
•2 or 3 staff
•Pros
•shares desktop
remotely
•can use software
from home
•relatively easy to
use
•Cons
•subscription per
year needed
•needs 'always on'
computer(s)
•uses personal
computer
RDP (no cost solution)
•Pros
•can use software
from home
•large scale solution
•professional
solution
•configured and
supported by
supplier or IT staff
Remote Control Utility
•Staff and learners
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
Scale – large to small
•2 or 3 staff
•Pros
•'no cost' other than
support
•Cons
•needs considerable
technical support in
school
•needs identified ip
address on 'always
on' computer(s)
•uses personal
computer
Cost – large to small
In all cases there will need to be configuration of the ports and firewalls on the internet connection.
This will have to be completed in consultation with SWGfL
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Cost – large to small
Scale – large to small
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