It’s that time again! I realize it’s been a while since we’ve had one of these events. However, it’s a new year and we’re planning to get together again on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 10:00 AM PST (UTC-7).
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! Register now and join the session 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. I’m planning to have some special guests as well, so be sure to join us!
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!
I’m pleased to announce I’ll present a FREE online training course on Microsoft Entra Certificate-Based Authentication (CBA). The course will be delivered through the ViaMonstra Online Academy on Wednesday, November 6, beginning at 10:00 AM CST. Once again, this training course is entirely FREE, so don’t hesitate to register now! If you can’t attend the live session, you can always view the presentation recording later.
Course Highlights
Join me for this 90-minute live, online training session where you will learn:
How certificate-based authentication offers more robust protection than passwords alone and mitigates phishing and MFA bypass risks
How Entra CBA enables a seamless, passwordless user experience while maintaining high security and assurance
How Entra CBA eliminates the need for physical authentication devices such as FIDO keys or security tokens, reducing costs and complexity
How to configure and manage affinity binding and authentication strength policies for Entra CBA
When you attend the live event, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions directly during the presentation, so be sure to register today and join us for this free training session!
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.
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.
