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cliffordgormleyFlag for United States of America

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VPN Access w/o Domain Account

Is it possible to log into an SBS 2011 or Server 2012 Essentials server using VPN without a domain user account?
Can they do it with a local account?
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Rob Williams
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There has to be a domain account on the SBS so thy can authorize.  There are no local accounts on a domain controller.  However the remote PC does not need to be a member of the domain.
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John
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I would agree a VPN appliance/router is a much better solution from a security, perfomance, and managbility point of view, but I should ask why do you need a VPN.  There are a few reasons but with both of your server options you can access the server, PC's on the LAN, and shared folders using Remote Web Access and SSL, which is built-in and offers security advantages over a VPN.
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This question is an addition to this one here - https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28016263/SBS-2011-with-no-domain-users-or-computers.html

Since the users will have various OS's, including various Mac versions, they will have limited functionality with the server. So I'm not entirely sure if they will have Remote Web Access available to them.

So just to confirm. The best option would be a seperate VPN box that would allow them access through User ID and Credentials though it is possible for the remote pc's to access files on the server through VPN w/o them being part of a domain?
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If you have a VPN appliance, then you can do what you want above.

If you wish to use SBS2011 instead of a VPN appliance, then you need to follow RobWill's approach.  
... Thinkpads_User
Thanks for the answers! I will be looking into both options for the user and actually pushing towards Server 2012 Essentials.
@cliffordgormley - You are most welcome. I was happy to help and good luck going forward.

.... Thinkpads_User