Forefront UAG DirectAccess benefits include the following:
- Improved manageability of remote
users—Forefront UAG DirectAccess enables IT professionals to
manage mobile computers by updating Group Policy settings and
distributing software updates any time the mobile computer has
Internet connectivity, even if the user is not logged on. This
flexibility allows IT professionals to manage remote computers on a
regular basis, and ensures that mobile users stay up-to-date with
security and system health policies.
- More secure and flexible network
infrastructure—Forefront UAG DirectAccess takes advantage of
technologies, such as, Internet Protocol security (IPsec) and
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), providing a more secure and
flexible network infrastructure for enterprises by using
authentication and encryption, as follows:
- Authentication—Forefront UAG
DirectAccess authenticates the client computer, enabling the
computer to connect to the intranet before the user logs on.
- Encryption—Forefront UAG DirectAccess
uses IPsec to provide encryption for communications across the
Internet.
- Authentication—Forefront UAG
DirectAccess authenticates the client computer, enabling the
computer to connect to the intranet before the user logs on.
- IT simplification and cost
reduction—Forefront UAG enables you to reduce your costs
by:
- Providing unified management—Forefront
UAG provides unified management for all the remote access
technologies.
- Hardware consolidation—Forefront UAG
manages remote access technologies, load balancing and array
functionality, and NAT64 and DNS64 on the same server using the
same Management console.
- Providing unified management—Forefront
UAG provides unified management for all the remote access
technologies.
- Extended access to IPv4-only
resources—Forefront UAG DirectAccess uses integrated NAT64 and
DNS64 to enable clients to also access IPv4-only resources.
- Simplified deployment and
administration—The Forefront UAG DirectAccess configuration is
incorporated into the Forefront UAG Management console, and is
configured using interactive wizards that provide simpler
deployment and management.
- Enhanced scalability, high availability
and management—By utilizing its array management capabilities
and integrated Windows network load balancing, Forefront UAG
enables you to set up multiple Forefront UAG DirectAccess servers
in an array, providing high availability and scalability.
Forefront UAG DirectAccess also enables users to get more out of other Windows 7 networking improvements, such as:
- Federated Search—With Federated
Search, desktop searches can include files and Web pages on your
intranet whenever the user is connected to your intranet. Because
DirectAccess connects users to the intranet when then connect to
the Internet, Federated Search works automatically any time that
the user has an Internet connection.
- Folder Redirection—With Folder
Redirection, folders can automatically synchronize between multiple
computers across the network. If you enable DirectAccess, users
with both mobile and desktop computers can stay synchronized
automatically whenever they connect to the Internet.