Posts made by The A Train

@scottalanmiller said:
Could be cool, they have a lot of tools that if they could be centralized and not cause "cross contamination" could be very MSP useful. They need to get to a model like most of their competitors where you run in a datacenter and agents reach out and create the connections and allow for seamless, unexposed connections from anywhere, to anywhere.

I think this is what they are trying to do with their proxy connection. I'm not sure if it would clear up the cross contamination, but it would eliminate the need for an actual connection to the client's network.

Do you have any links to your articles concerning MSP and VPN? I'm interested in learning more about the West-coast way.

@scottalanmiller

Thanks for the invite! I spoke with one of the sales reps at Goverlan this morning and he cleared up some of the questions you had.

First, I was told that this system was designed with "the enterprise" in mind, so it definitely requires a VPN or LAN connection at this time. I figured this was the case, even though there is a method where a user can "request" a remote session by opening a RAR (remote assistance request) token, confirming the request and then initiating it. It would then go back to you and then you're connected over the WAN. There are some port forwarding rules that need to be in place on both ends before this can take place, though.

This...isn't exactly ideal. Especially for some MSPs or even some SMBs that don't have a VPN that their tech can connect to the LAN with. So, in early Q2 they are introducing a new method of connecting to machines without LAN/VPN connectivity. It's basically a proxy setting on their Central Server that allows the connection between the client & tech over the WAN. I'm not too knowledgeable on proxies, so I won't stick my foot in my mouth further than I can pull it out. They did say they aren't sure how pricing will work on this, so maybe someone should reach out to them and let them know that MSPs should be moving away from VPN/LAN and that their pricing should reflect their acceptance of this as risk management/mitigation.

The application itself is installed on and run on the machine that the support tech will be using most. We have two licenses here, so I can install it on up to 4 machines. Their central server can be put in place to distribute client settings, audit sessions, control access, etc...You can also share settings, scripts and custom actions with your colleagues if you set up the central repository that each machine/user can access.

The application doesn't require AD to work. You can actually go through and setup your own containers with IP address scopes or by site. The management & remote features would still work the same as long as you can authenticate on the client machine.

Scott, if you're interested in trying it out you should reach out to them and ask to put their proxy to the test.

As a side note: I don't work for Goverlan or get any perks for pushing their kit. I just think it's really helpful and enjoy sharing what I find handy.