Originally Posted by
nastravel
3) Remote access is a plus where I can access these FILES. In terms of taking over and actually using the whole Imac (Assume this NEEDS to be switched on)or the Macmini Server. Well it is not essential but I wouldn’t mind IF the security setup is EASY and it is SAFE. I don’t understand things about ports config etc…. Also how do I setup VPN? Is this automatically configured in the Lion Server App?
Like
pdxer said, getting a VPN running is very hard,time consuming, and expensive. The easiest way is to utilize a free service like
LogMeIn Hamachi.
Apple provides a few consumer-level tools for remotely accessing your iMac, such as Back to my Mac. However, these tools are flaky at best from my experience and when they do work, its often very slow (mostly due to the speed of the internet connection). Additionally, Back to my Mac requires enabling UPnP on the router, which is not a good idea from a security standpoint.
Any Mac running Mac OS Server can act as a VPN server, but you will need to:
1) Make the Mac Server your router (ie. connect it to the modem) and have the firewall turned on.
OR
2) Tell the router to forward all VPN traffic to the Mac Server