With the release of Windows 10, many organizations who chose to skip Windows 8 are now beginning to deploy this new client operating systemn. To maximize investment in Windows 10, DirectAccess can be leveraged to provide employees with seamless and transparent, always on, secure remote corporate network connectivity. DirectAccess has been around for many years, and today the most popular DirectAccess client is Windows 7. However, Windows 10 provides better support for DirectAccess features that enhance performance and availability, while at the same making it easier to implement and support. Windows 10 opens up many new and compelling deployment scenarios for small businesses to large scale enterprises.
Full Support for Geographic Redundancy
Without a doubt the most important DirectAccess feature Windows 10 supports is automatic entry point selection and transparent failover for multisite deployments. DirectAccess multisite deployment provides essential geographic redundancy for organizations with multiple physical locations. Windows 7 has only minimal support for multisite deployment, with clients required to be assigned to a single entry point. Windows 10 clients are aware of all entry points and will intelligently select the closest entry point when establishing a DirectAccess connection. If the entry point becomes unavailable during the connection, Windows 10 clients will transparently connect to another entry point automatically.
Better Scalability and Performance
Windows 10, like Windows 8 before it, includes support for IP-HTTPS null encryption. This feature greatly improves scalability on the DirectAccess server by eliminating the needless double encryption that Windows 7 clients perform. This reduces resource consumption on the server and enables the server to support many more DirectAccess client connections.
Enhanced Supportability
Many will also appreciate Windows 10’s built-in DirectAccess connectivity status indicator. No longer will administrators have to deploy, manage, and maintain additional software to provide this essential functionality.
To access DirectAccess information in Windows 10, press Window Key + I, click Network & Internet, and then click the DirectAccess tab. Here you will find vital details about DirectAccess configuration and status such as connection state, currently connected entry point, and a site selection drop down box (if manual site selection is enabled by an administrator). In addition you can generate and collect log information for troubleshooting purposes.
Native PowerShell Support
Anyone tasked with troubleshooting DirectAccess configuration and connectivity issues will appreciate the native PowerShell integration with DirectAccess in Windows 10. With just a few commands a wealth of information about DirectAccess configuration and connectivity status can be obtained.
Need to quickly determine if a Windows 10 client has been provisioned for DirectAccess successfully?
Get-DAClientExperienceConfiguration
Has the Windows 10 client connected successfully? If not, why?
Get-DAConnectionStatus
Need to identify the Network Location Server (NLS) the client is configured to use?
Get-NCSIPolicyConfiguration
Looking for DirectAccess multisite entry point details and connection status?
Get-DAEntryPointTableItem
PKI Optional (But Recommended)
Finally, when Windows 10 (and Windows 8.x) clients are supported exclusively a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is optional. Here instead the Kerberos Proxy is leveraged to perform DirectAccess client authentication, which reduces infrastructure requirements by eliminating the need for a PKI. However, this configuration offers only limited support for DirectAccess features. For example, a PKI is still required if any Windows 7 clients are deployed. Also, PKI is required to support features such as one-time password (OTP) authentication, Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP) integration, load balancing (integrated or external), force tunneling, and multisite configuration.
For optimum security and maximum deployment flexibility it is recommended that PKI be used to manage certificates for all DirectAccess deployments including those supporting only Windows 8.x and Windows 10 clients.
Summary
DirectAccess and Windows 10 are much better together. Windows 10 provides full support for the geographic load balancing features of DirectAccess and at the same time offers improved scalability and performance. Windows 10 also makes supporting and troubleshooting DirectAccess clients much easier. And for smaller deployments, Windows 10 can lower the barrier to entry for organizations considering DirectAccess by eliminating the need for a full PKI deployment.
Additional Resources
Video: DirectAccess and Windows 10 in Action
DirectAccess and Windows 10 in Education
Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016 Book
Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016 Video Training Course
DirectAccess Consulting Services
More Information
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NetScaler is an excellent platform that can be configured to improve upon native DirectAccess high availability and redundancy features. It provides superior load balancing compared to native Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB), with more throughput and better traffic visibility, while at the same time reducing resource utilization on the DirectAccess server.
In addition, the NetScaler can be configured to serve as the DirectAccess Network Location Server (NLS), providing essential high availability for this critical service and reducing supporting infrastructure requirements.
