Virtual Private Network (VPN)
If you need to connect to the University network either indirectly or from another network (for instance, using a broadband modem or router at home, or via an external dial-up service), you will need to set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Access to licensed library material
One common reason for using the VPN is to enable you to use the University's Web cache from outside the University network, and therefore to access restricted web pages and licensed databases which are only accessible from within University's network.
- To do this you must enable the web cache.
If you are having problems with gaining remote access to specific Library resources, then please confirm with the Library that you are using the most appropriate mechanism for accessing this material.
Mapping a network drive (PC) or Connect to a server (Mac)
Another reason for setting up a VPN is in order to connect to a network drive. Connecting (mapping on a PC, Connecting on a Mac) a drive is when you get access to your home directory or shared diskspace as though these networked disks are additional disk-drives on your computer. On a PC you assign letters to the drives so that your home directory becomes the M drive on your PC, for example, or a shared area on the 'admin' server becomes the S drive. On a Mac the connected drive is seen as another disk.
This mapping (or connecting) of networked drives is only possible when you are within the University network. Therefore if you want to do it from home or elsewhere you must first set up a VPN connection.
How to use VPN
To use VPN, you require to configure and run the VPN client program on your computer. The currently supported VPN client is the Cisco VPN Client. Further technical information about our remote-access VPN service can be found on the vpn-background page.
Configuration instructions for all platforms can found on the Install cisco vpn page. Built-in versions of the Cisco VPN Client software must be used whenever it is supplied on platforms – such as on Macs with MacOSX 10.6 and later, as well as iDevices (iPads and iPhones) with iOS5 and later. Otherwise, the Cisco VPN Client software will require to downloaded beforehand.
It is essential that you protect your computer with a personal firewall. The VPN client is compatible with some firewall products, but not all. This is an area where the behaviour of the VPN client sometimes seems inconsistent, although the inconsistency is in fact due to differences in the way different computers are configured."
