how can i set up a remote office?

Question

Being a lawyer I want to send reports (lengthy ones) to my office which I draft during the night in such a way that my co-workers can use the same doing minor alterations if needed, but the office comp remains shut for the night. Do I have to wait till it is turned on? Or is there some other way that will permit me to travel freely to other places without having the headache of meeting the deadline on time? Is this the concept of remote office? If yes how do I set it up? I don’t want to send the files as e-mail attachments. Office has a dial up connection and at home broadband with no wireless connection.

Answer 1

If you wanted the documents delivered to the office computer directly, then yes, it would have to be on all the time to accept incoming data. This would be the most secure way of doing it. Getting a broadband connection would be needed and setting up a small file server with Internet access would be trivial. The file server could also serve as a central office fileserver as well.



The other option is to use an intermediary storage utility, like esnips.com. Set up a password protected area for the temporary storage of files that your co-workers can retrieve when they get into the office and switch on the computer.



Personally I recommend the former solution using a Linux fileserver with SSH security. Contact a professional for the finer details.

Answer 2

The remote office / remote desktop concept is not quite as you describe it. remote desktop allows you to log in to your office machine from home, yes you can transfer files, but considering you have a dialup connection at the office it will take some time, even if you have broadband at home, does not make a difference the destination has a slow line. You can search for alternative space online like rapidshare.com or other web servers online that allow you to park your files there and you can restrict access to whoever you want. All you will need to do is point your co-workers to the file online and let them burden with the dialup line speeds to get the file. Those usually charge for the space / bandwidth used, another alternative solution is a software called foldershare which you can setup to share a folder on your machine and that way send invites to co-workers to view and retrieve the file from your home pc....as long as its on and online. :)

Answer 3

Your office would need broadband, any office without it now is a waste of time. You need a fixed office ip address from the isp. You then really need a server at the office to save files to. You will have to set the office router to forward the appropriate ports to the server and open the same ports in the server firewall. A Linux server is the cheapest and most secure option.

Answer 4

Broadband, as stated elsewhere, is essential. Depending on the type of network you run there, you can use built-in software from Novell or Windows that allow you to drop off files just like you were there.



If not, I would recommend you look at VPN applications (after broadband). With VPN you can make secure tunnels over the internet and access your network like you were there.



Sonicwall also offers a web-browser based hardware device for about $500. You can get access to your network via a browser from anywhere in the world.



(That device is an SSL-VPN 200)



Hope that helps.

Answer 5

I agree that you will need a business broadband connection to your office and a server, but I would have a professional set it up. If you have a small office, it won't be that expensive and since you are a lawyer, I would think that data security and data backups would be a major concern. And you would need user accounts for your staff.