Always On VPN Ask Me Anything (AMA) March 2024

Do you have questions about Always On VPN? Are you having a specific issue you can’t figure out? Would you like more information about configuration options? Here’s your chance to get your questions answered! Join me on Tuesday, March 26, at 10:00 AM PDT (UTC -7) for an opportunity to ask me anything (AMA!) about Microsoft Windows Always On VPN and related technologies.

The AMA will be an open forum session where we can all talk shop about Always On VPN. It’s a great chance to learn new things and share experiences with your peers. We’ll discuss known issues and limitations, best practices, and more.

Everyone is welcome. Don’t miss out on this excellent opportunity to connect and learn. Register now!

Can’t make the session? Register anyway, and I’ll send you the link to the recording as soon as it is available!

Always On VPN RRAS Centralized Monitoring and Reporting

A while back, I wrote about the monitoring and reporting options for Windows Server Routing and Remote Access (RRAS) servers supporting Microsoft Always On VPN. In that article, I outlined how administrators can use the Routing and Remote Access Management console (rrasmgmt.msc) or the Remote Access Management console (ramgmtui.exe) to perform configuration tasks and review current user and device activity. However, neither solution is ideal in a distributed environment with multiple RRAS servers. Thankfully, there’s a new option available to address this crucial limitation today.

Centralized Reporting

I’m excited to announce the availability of a cloud-based, centralized reporting solution for Windows Server RRAS and Always On VPN from the folks at PowerON Platforms. Created by the folks that brought us the Dynamic Profile Configurator (DPC) solution for managing Always On VPN client configuration settings, PowerON Platforms’ new reporting solution allows administrators to aggregate configuration, performance, and user activity data from multiple individual RRAS servers across their organization.

Important! I’ll be joining the folks at PowerON Platforms for a webinar on Thursday, January 18 to introduce and demonstrate this new Always On VPN reporting solution. Register now!

Summary View

The Summary view page provides a consolidated high-level look at the environment’s health status and capacity of VPN servers. Administrators can quickly see if any servers are unhealthy and view current usage details to assess the capacity of the deployment.

Server Overview

The Server Overview page provides a more detailed look at individual server health status and configuration. Here, you’ll find information about the number of active and available connections and the TLS certificate status. In addition, you’ll find detailed information about provisioned CPU and RAM, disk space utilization, and system uptime. You will also see information about the size of the reporting database on disk and the number of IKEv2 and SSTP VPN ports provisioned.

VPN Server Configuration

The VPN Server Configuration page looks into the IP address pool configuration and current utilization. In addition, this page provides an in-depth look at the VPN server TLS certificate health status. Currently, configured authentication and accounting servers are also shown.

Server Performance

The Server Performance page shows granular details about resource utilization on RRAS servers. This includes CPU and memory utilization, disk space usage, and database size. Administrators can view aggregated data or select individual servers. The view can be further customized by filtering by date.

Connection History

The Connection History page details concurrent connections observed on all VPN servers. Data can be filtered by date, individual server, and user or device name.

Client Distribution

The Client Distribution page provides an intuitive graphical display of client activity by server and tunnel type. In addition, it includes details about usage by individual clients and the number of connections made by individual endpoints.

Connection Detail

The Connection Detail page allows administrators to view user activity across all servers in the organization. Once again, data can be filtered by date, individual server, and user or device name. This view provides granular details on user activity, enabling the administrator to drill down to view specific resources accessed over the VPN for individual sessions.

Data Flow

The Data Flow page displays information about data transfer through the VPN server.

Summary

The Always On VPN cloud-based centralized reporting solution for Microsoft Always On VPN by PowerON Platforms is sure to be helpful for organizations managing distributed RRAS server deployments. The reporting solution aggregates data from all RRAS servers in the enterprise, providing a holistic view of configuration, health status, and user activity in one management console. This consolidated visibility is crucial for capacity planning and configuration maintenance, making the identification of performance bottlenecks or misconfigured servers easy. Also, the ability to view certificate expiration status for all servers in the organization is sure to prevent outages. Security administrators will find the solution helpful for forensic reporting and to identify sources of data leakage and exfiltration.

You can contact PowerON Platforms and request additional information here.

More Information

Are you interested in learning more about PowerON Platforms Always On VPN reporting? Would you like an interactive solution demonstration or an evaluation license to trial the product in your environment? Fill out the form below, and I’ll contact you with more details.

Remote Access Questions and Answers Webinar Hosted by Kemp

Join me this Thursday, April 9 at 10:00AM EDT for a Remote Access Q&A session hosted by Kemp Technologies. During this free live webinar, I’ll be answering all your questions as they relate to enterprise mobility, remote access, scalability and performance, security, and much more. Topics are not limited to Kemp products at all, so feel free to join and ask me anything you like! Register now and submit your questions!

Remote Access Q&A Webinar Hosted by Kemp