Product Review: Ericom AccessNow 2.0

Before installing a trial version of Ericom Software's Ericom AccessNow 2.0, I checked out the online demos on the company's website. I'm already usingWindows 8 Release Preview, so the demos needed to work in Internet Explorer (IE) 10.0. There were no problems on that front. Surprisingly, as I clicked toaccess a full Windows desktop on Ericom's remote server, I got instant access without needing to install a client-side component. I didn't need an ActiveXcontrol, a Java applet, or any type of client software whatsoever.

Using HTML5, JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), AccessNow displays remote desktops in web browsers in the same way as a traditional remotedesktop client. Although AccessNow doesn't work as quickly as Microsoft's ActiveX-based remote desktop software, the advantages of being able to access aremote desktop or application in any browser that supports web standards, with no client software to install or update, outweighs a minor loss inperformance.

AccessNow can connect directly to Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, in which case it relies on whatever authentication mechanism is enabled on the Windowsserver. Microsoft's Remote Desktop Gateway isn't supported because AccessNow uses HTML5 with WebSockets. However, Ericom includes its own free SecureGateway server application, which can provide SSL encryption if required.

There are AccessNow versions for remote desktop technologies other than those provided by Microsoft, such as Citrix Systems, VMware, and Quest Software.For more sophisticated connection and security options, Ericom also has its own connection broker software, PowerTerm WebConnect. It provides options suchas centralized management capabilities, reports on who is connected to which servers, and robust enterprise-grade load balancing capabilities. PowerTermWebConnect also has full support for VMware virtual desktop infrastructures and virtual machine (VM) pools that automatically grow and shrink based ondesktop utilization.

Installation

AccessNow consists of three parts: the AccessNow server (a WebSocket server), an optional Secure Gateway server, and web components that can be customizedto suit your organization's branding and embedded in third-party web pages. Although not required, Ericom recommends that the AccessNow server software beinstalled on an RDP host for best performance and to enable features such as file transfer. The AccessNow server software is compatible with Windows XP andlater.

Ericom claims that you can install the AccessNow server software in five minutes on your RDP server, and that's true. When you run the provided installerpackage, you just need to click Next and Finish. The only additional step you need to take is to configure the server's firewall to make sure inboundaccess on port 8080 is open to AccessNowServer32.exe. Because AccessNow doesn't support Network Level Authentication, I had to change the Windows RDP hostconnection settings on the Remote tab in the Control Panel's System applet to allow connections from computers running any version of Remote DesktopServices (less secure) before I could make a connection through AccessNow.

Once installed, you can connect to the AccessNow server from any client running a compatible browser by enteringhttp://machinename:8080/accessnow/start.html, where machinename is the name of the server on which you installed AccessNow. You then enter theconnection information in the screen shown in Figure 1. Because the AccessNow server is installed on my RDP host, I can leave the first two fields on theconnection screen blank. The username and password entered here are passed to Windows for authentication. Clicking Connect took me straight to my remotedesktop.

Figure 1: Using AccessNow to Access a Remote Desktop in a Browser Window 

The AccessNow server has a small configuration applet that you can access from the Start menu on the RDP host. From there, you can perform all necessaryadministration tasks such as managing licensing, restarting the AccessNow service, viewing performance statistics, changing the port on which AccessNowlistens for connections, and configuring advanced options (e.g., acceleration, logging, and security settings).

File Transfers and Printing

Most browsers impose restrictions on the local resources (e.g., file system, printers) that web pages can access, so Ericom has implemented some cleverworkarounds to make sure users don't miss out on features found in standard RDP clients. In the top right corner of the browser window, you'll find twobuttons for uploading and downloading files between the local and remote desktops. The same functionality can also be achieved by dragging and droppingfiles in the browser window.

When uploading a file to the remote desktop, you're presented with a standard Windows dialog box to choose the appropriate file. After a short delay,another dialog box appears on the remote desktop asking where you want to save the file. Naturally, this works in reverse order for downloading files tothe local computer. When uploading files to a remote desktop, AccessNow displays a progress bar. When downloading files from a remote desktop, the browsertakes responsibility for showing the download progress. Curiously, I was able to select multiple files when uploading to my remote desktop but not whendownloading from it. Folders can't be selected for either upload or download.

AccessNow installs its own printer on the remote desktop. If you choose to print to this device, a dialog box appears in the browser window on the localcomputer offering the option to view the document. This opens the printed document from the remote desktop in Adobe Reader in a separate browser window,where you have the option to print it to a locally installed printer.

Security

AccessNow allows secure WebSocket communications by means of a self-signed certificate. Not all browsers support SSL-encrypted WebSocket connections, sousers can opt to disable SSL security in the AccessNow client. Ericom provides the free Secure Gateway server application that can be used in conjunctionwith AccessNow to provide an additional level of security. The Secure Gateway server authenticates users before they access any internal resources andprovides always-on secure WebSocket connections between AccessNow clients and AccessNow servers. Secure Gateway comes with a self-signed certificateinstalled by default, but it also supports trusted certificates.

Secure Gateway servers can be placed in a demilitarized zone (DMZ) and communicate over the Internet on port 443 using WebSockets. A Secure Gateway servermust be a member of the domain in which you want to authenticate users and can be installed on Windows Server 2003 or later and requires Microsoft .NETFramework 4.0.

A Simple, Elegant Solution

AccessNow is a simple, elegant solution for providing access to remote desktops through a web browser, without the need for any client software. Withsupport for most of the standard RDP features provided by Microsoft's own client (including file transfers, printing, and even sound), AccessNow shouldprove suitable for most standard line of business (LOB) applications.

I only wish that Citrix Systems and Microsoft would use completely browser-based clients for the Citrix GoToMeeting, Citrix WebEx, and Microsoft OfficeLiveMeeting software. This would save system administrators the pain of having to install and maintain the software that's currently necessary to join webmeetings.