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Jared DavisFlag for United States of America

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Accessing Shared Company Folder Outside Network

Hey, guys, super easy question for most of you, but believe it or not .. I do not know the answer to this .. actually .. i sorta do, but I feel like I am missing something.

 We have a Windows Server 2008 R2. On this server, I want to setup for myself and my plant manager to be able to access the Shared Company Folder outside of the Network of the Factory Site.

 We can all access the Shared Drive as long as we're plugged in or connected to the on site Network .. however .. I need to be able to have access to the Shared Drive on this server outside of that Network.
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We both are using Windows 10 Home Edition - is there a way for me to be able to access the Shared Drive without having to use something like Cloud-Berry Remote Assistant or Team Viewer.

I know he wasn't using an SFTP server.
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I understand you can map the drive onsite and have it sitting in File Explorer where you can see it and access it, but some how he had setup where he would just click that Shared Folder like a drive and access it even off site.
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Our servers are on a Domain since the companies are in Multiple states. Would that change anything on how to access the Shared Drive Folder at another factory or would it still likely be offline sync or vpn scenario?
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Yes, they do have Active Directory setup for the entire company. I am confused on what was happening as the previous server died and we have the new server up and running and i have no idea what he was using to give him simple access where he was just clicking the drive like he was onsite. He didn't have to do anything fancy, he just literally clicked the (G:) drive which was the Shared Company Folder and he had access to the Shared Drive from another factory.

The previous guy just walked off the job and never said a word.
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No, we never connected to a Domain from the Home PCs. I am just trying to give as much information as possible that our Company is on a Domain.

I checked the Plant Managers computer.

He has no VPN installed and Offline File Sync is not being used and there is no SFTP server.

So if we can rule out a VPN / File Sync / SFTP I don't understand how in the world he was connecting to the Company Shared Drive from his home Factory.
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I am misunderstanding I believe on what's happening above. I am looking in Credential Manager now to try to figure out what you mean.

For example, I have my credentials stored for the Onsite Location, but when I am offsite, regardless of the stored credentials, it still will not let me access the server when I am not on the same network.
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No, I have a VPN on the server already. I am using Cloudberry Remote Assistant. However, my Plant Manager had the Company Shared Folder that is at another plant sitting on this computer as a Drive (G:). He just clicked it and it gave him access to the Out Of Network Company Shared Folder.

I checked his computer and there's no VPN on it, no SFTP server was being used, and no file sync.

But some how the Company Shared Folder from the Factory that is 20 miles away was giving him access only to the Company Shared Folder. (It's no longer working now that a new server is installed, but previously he said it worked just like he was at the factory and he could access the Company Shared Folder like he was in that factory's network. He didn't have to do anything, just literally open the Drive (Company Shared Folder).

I dont know how this was done.
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I am guessing he was confused in some way. I just cannot think of a way of doing it without a VPN. So I guess the mistake is that he did not have access to the Offsite factory location to begin with. There is no VPN software on his computer and we do not have a VPN gateway that I know of.
I believe the Plant Manager was not remembering correctly and did not have access to the drives from an off site network as he did not have any VPN software on his computer or knew of any Share Point.