Computer network gurus....

[kyscott]

I need to find the best solution to a problem I have. I'm using a Barix box to transport audio to our transmitter. I have put it in the DMZ on my router. However, when I install my Simian computer, I want to be able to get into it through PC Anywhere. In everyone's opinion, what would be the best way to accomplish this?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Any Port in a Storm?

First of all, I never put anything in the DMZ. It just opens that device up to attack. IP addresses are assigned to computers. Applications on those computers use port addresses to receive and respond to requests for data. What you want to set up is port forwarding on your router(s).

You need to do two things:

1. Assign fixed IP addresses to your Simian computer and Barix box. The address has to be in the same range as your existing network, but outside the range of the DHCP server. For example, if your router automatically assigns IP addresses in the 192.168.2.100 - 192.168.2.150 range, you need to assign static addresses to the devices in the 192.168.2. 2 - 192.168.2.99 or 192.168.2.151 - 192.168.2. 250 range. Check your router's "advanced features" to determine the range used by the DHCP server.

2. Set up "port forwarding". pcAnywhere uses port 5631 & 5632 by default. I like to change those to non-standard ports, but that's a little too difficult to explain here. In your "advanced options" forward ports 5631 & 5632 to the IP address of your Simian computer. You can assign a port number to the Barix box. I believe that 8888 is the default. Once again, forward the port number to the IP address of the Barix box.

Port forwarding exposes the attached computer to only those exploits that might attack that particular port address. Using the DMZ exposes the attached computer to exploits that come in on ANY port address - a much more dangerous proposition.

 

[OttoM]

Shorter answer: Google is your friend here: http://www.google.com/search?q=pcanywhere+firewall

There's plenty of detailed explanations on how to setup up port forwarding and changing the default PCAnywhere ports.

 

[cmac]

i suggest you use logmein. www.logmein.com. Its much faster and more secure than PC Anywhere or VNC and its free.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Remote Desktop

Heck, if you're using XP Pro, just use Remote Desktop. It's encrypted end-to-end, and uses your existing username/password combinations. You can control who's allowed access to an individual computer, and they have their existing rights and privileges on the network. The client works on any computer running Windows, from Win 3.x through Vista.

 

[OttoM]

Re: Remote Desktop

Heck, if you're using XP Pro, just use Remote Desktop. It's encrypted end-to-end, and uses your existing username/password combinations. You can control who's allowed access to an individual computer, and they have their existing rights and privileges on the network. The client works on any computer running Windows, from Win 3.x through Vista.

But it breaks Simian's sound card settings. So RDP is not an option for computers running Simian.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Re: Remote Desktop

Heck, if you're using XP Pro, just use Remote Desktop. It's encrypted end-to-end, and uses your existing username/password combinations. You can control who's allowed access to an individual computer, and they have their existing rights and privileges on the network. The client works on any computer running Windows, from Win 3.x through Vista.

But it breaks Simian's sound card settings. So RDP is not an option for computers running Simian.

Any idea why? If it's a port issue, you can change the RDP port in the Registry.

One other advantage to RDP is that you're not going through another server to establish & maintain the connection.

 

[OttoM]

Re: Remote Desktop

Any idea why? If it's a port issue, you can change the RDP port in the Registry.

One other advantage to RDP is that you're not going through another server to establish & maintain the connection.

RDP can send the host computer's audio to your own sound card. You don't want that if Simian is being used because when you log in to RDP Simian loses control of the sound card. Essentially - an RDP login takes you off the air.

Even if the "send sound to remote" option is disabled, Simian still loses sound card control.

There's a lengthy discussion of this on BSI's forum, but you'll need to register to see it.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Monkey Business

Fortunately, it's an issue that I don't have to resolve. I think that I'll leave it to others. Heaven knows that there are plenty of other remote control solutions out there. UltraVNC seems to get a lot of rave reviews because it's free, includes end-to-end encryption, and will also connect to a WinVNC host.

 

[kyscott]

Thanks for the ideas guys. It's not as difficult as I thought.

 

[TomT]

We use GoToMyPC with two Simian systems. Seems to work fine, our ops mgr. edits logs and inserts weather forecasts, simple copy from his college apartment 50 miles away.

I gather some finagling is needed with the local LAN, we have a computer running as an internet server. Beyond that, it is beyond me; I only fix things with real parts such as transmitters and consoles.