VPN Options, Remote Desktop, and File Server Drive Mapping

VPN Options

1. UMD Cisco VPN - For more details on the options below, refer to this article.
   1. Do not use if you are accessing with a Chromebook. See the Pulse VPN in #2a below. 
   2. Staff and faculty in administrative positions who need access to SIS, PHR, KFS, etc. either from their office desktop or from off campus should use the UMD Cisco VPN with the UMaccess-MFA group.
   3. Faculty and most graduate students should use the UMD Cisco VPN with the UMD group.
   4. Anyone who needs to force all traffic over the VPN such as when visiting countries that block access to services such as Google (China is the most common example) should use the UMD Cisco VPN with the UMD group with ".all" added to their username.
      
      
2. Engineering, Math, and Physics Pulse Secure VPN- For more details, refer to this article.
   1. Anyone using a Chromebook should use this option.  For more information on Chromebook access, refer to this article. 
   2. Staff who do not need access to additional resources such as PHR, SIS, etc should use this option.
   3. Any staff, faculty, or graduate student on Tier 3 support doing a simple remote desktop connection should use this method. 
   4. Anyone who prefers the simpler approach of web access and does not need access to SIS, PHR, KFS, etc. at the same time should use this option.

Remote Desktop

The port commonly used for Windows remote desktop (TCP 3389) is blocked from off campus without the use of a VPN. The Division of IT and the College of Engineering have provided options to make sure that our customers are able to connect and easily work from home or on the road.  Remote desktop requires set up by the service desk prior to use.  If you would like assistance with this setup, contact the Service Desk at x51634 or eit-help@umd.edu..

Once remote desktop is configured by the Service Desk, it requires use of either one of our VPN options. 

• If you're comfortable with using a Remote Desktop program, you can refer to the Cisco article in #1 above. 
• If you are more comfortable using the departmental Pulse web site, please refer to the Pulse Secure article in #2 above. 
• If you are using a Chromebook, please refer to the article in #2-a above. 

File Server Drive Mapping