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I'm really confused about some related things in the Vpn uses.. especially in sharing only the internet & accessing all the resources(printer, files..etc) that are available in the network and be like your are really in the same local network(even if u are away)..

1a) I read that when u use the SSL Vpn(tunneling & encryption, like the one that is implemented in the OpenVpn ) u will only be able to access the web related app(only routing the internet traffic, like the commercial vpn app 'Hotspot Shield'). so, this is mean u can't access the other network resources such as printer,files & other stuff.

Having direct access only to the web-enabled SSL applications also means that users don’t have access to network resources such as printers or centralized storage and are unable to use the VPN for file sharing or file backups.

From 'http://netsecurity.about.com/cs/generalsecurity/a/aa111703_2.htm'

Is this true !!? If it is, then if I want to use the OpenVpn I can use it only for routing my internet traffic, I can't access any files ?? I can't be able like I'm in my network. right ??

1b) What is the uses of the 'SSl Vpn' ?? If '1a' true (only routing without accessing network resources).

1c) Also, if '1a' is true. How can I then make a vpn that does provide a network resources plus a routing internet traffic for sure :) ?

Thanks alot

2 Answers 2

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I believe I understand your question. You are confusing VPN Portal with a VPN Tunnel.

A VPN portal is just that, a portal, that allows you to access only specific web-based apps. You are limited specifically to what the VPN administrator is allowing you to access and use and is only for web-based applications. Not such a big deal in today's world where there are a lot of web-based apps (Sharepoint, ERP systems) and the user only needs to access these instead of their documents.

A VPN tunnel acts more like IPSec in that it grants you access to the network to allow for non-web apps to be ran to include printers and files. This is similar to IPSec VPN connections except that a client is not required to be installed on the machine, although, the SSL VPN may install a Java or ActiveX client at run time.

OpenVPN appears to be more of a content filtering bypass in countries like China that prevent internet users from accessing whatever they want. This would be more of a VPN portal in that is is more of a proxy than a traditional use VPN.

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It all depends on how you configure your VPN. If you use bridging, it appears as if you were on the same local network, and you can access all of that network resources, including the windows file sharing. See http://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/faq/75-general/309-what-is-the-difference-between-bridging-and-routing.html.

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