<div>
Personally i would use the VPN solution, as a second option i would implement a 2008 R2 terminal server using SSL and once they authenticate to this Terminal server they would then have the option to use remote desktop as a published application.
</div>


Personally i would use the VPN solution, as a second option i would implement a 2008 R2 terminal server using SSL and once they authenticate to this Terminal server they would then have the option to use remote desktop as a published application.

<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
I have several clients that have open ports for Remote Desktop access to various servers/workstations within their network from the OUTSIDE. &nbsp;They enjoy the ease of accessing their information when needed and really don't want to change anything. &nbsp;As their IT support staff, I find this extremely disturbing and want at minimum simply change the port RDP is listening on. &nbsp;I also want to employ the use of SSL.<br />
<br />
Would this be a secure option or is it more secure to just set up a VPN server instead?<br />
<br />
Pros / Cons of each?<br />
<br />
Thanks!
</div>
</div>


I have several clients that have open ports for Remote Desktop access to various servers/workstations within their network from the OUTSIDE.  They enjoy the ease of accessing their information when needed and really don't want to change anything.  As their IT support staff, I find this extremely disturbing and want at minimum simply change the port RDP is listening on.  I also want to employ the use of SSL.

Would this be a secure option or is it more secure to just set up a VPN server instead?

Pros / Cons of each?

Thanks!

Remote Desktop and Windows Server 2003 / 2008

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, based on the Microsoft Vista codebase, is the last 32-bit server operating system released by Microsoft. It has a number of versions, including including Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server, Itanium and Storage; new features included server core installation and Hyper-V.

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2003 was based on Windows XP and was released in four editions: Web, Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter. It also had derivative versions for clusters, storage and Microsoft’s Small Business Server. Important upgrades included integrating Internet Information Services (IIS), improvements to Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy (GP), and the migration to Automated System Recovery (ASR).