# Connecting to my shared drive over VPN...



## KarlN83 (Nov 7, 2008)

Right, here is my senario, i hope this doesnt bore you too much but i will explain as best i can to give a good idea of what i have setup and what i have done so far.

Im Running Windows Server 2008 Standard as my Desktop O/S, I have my D: drive shared so that I can access the files on my server from my XP laptop when im downstairs in my house. This works perfectly. Double click shared drive, type in password and hey presto, im accessing my data drive on my server. I also have Remote Desktop setup at home & work and I can access my server from both of these locations without a hitch. Now heres the problem....

When Im at work and I try to connect to the shared drive after connecting to my server through VPN successfully, i just get the error message about network path not found.
If I ping the Routers external address 82.33.115.***, I get a reply, but If I ping the Name of my server, HPW2K8SERVER, i get the host cannot be found. Im assuming i need to do something with my netbios or dns settings here maybe? Ive enabled Routing & Remote access on my server and i used the option for VPN & NAT, and gave an address range of 10.10.10.0 - 10.10.10.5, is that right? 
Im not too clued up on networking, which is why im trying to suss this problem out i guess. I wont stop unitl that drive maps and i can copy data from it. lol. Im enjoying the challenge though.

By the way, the router has NAT enabled, and is outside the DMZ. I have port 1723 forwarded on the router but nothing is letting me access this drive from outside.
EDIT: Forgot to mention - Server is not part of a domain nor is it a DC. The only roles running are File Services and Network Policy (To allow routing and remote access). When I do connect though, in the routing and remote access snap-in in admin tools, i can see 1 client connected with my name after a successful vpn connection, but no access to drives.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Many many thanks inadvance and thanks for reading. If you need any more info from me about the setup & problem, please let me know.

Cheers!! ray:


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## xSmilinx (Nov 13, 2008)

> When Im at work and I try to connect to the shared drive after connecting to my server through VPN successfully, i just get the error message about network path not found.
> If I ping the Routers external address 82.33.115.***, I get a reply, but If I ping the Name of my server, HPW2K8SERVER, i get the host cannot be found. Im assuming i need to do something with my netbios or dns settings here maybe?


Are you trying to access the share drive from your work pc locally? or are you Connecting to your server using remote desktop. If your mapping the drive locally on your work PC you need to map it using the local IP Address of your server (HPW2K8SERVER) (As long as your VPN connection is active). You cant map it using it's name through VPN. alternatively you could add it to your host file on your work PC. (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts), open it in notepad and add the following entry: 

192.168.1.254	HPW2K8SERVER

Obviously you would change that IP Address to the IP of your server.

This will allow your work PC to resolve the HPW2K8SERVER.

Hope this is what you wanted :4-dontkno


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## ar550n1c (Nov 19, 2008)

xSmilinx said:


> Are you trying to access the share drive from your work pc locally? or are you Connecting to your server using remote desktop. If your mapping the drive locally on your work PC you need to map it using the local IP Address of your server (HPW2K8SERVER) (As long as your VPN connection is active). You cant map it using it's name through VPN. alternatively you could add it to your host file on your work PC. (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts), open it in notepad and add the following entry:
> 
> 192.168.1.254	HPW2K8SERVER
> 
> ...


Smilinx is right... Sounds to me like your issue is name resolution. When you request the server name on the network there is a request that is sent to the specified DNS Server. If the DNS or Wins Server cannot find the IP address that corresponds to the Name requested you will get that message. Another way is to just use the IP address instead of the name of the machine. Smilinx's suggestion should get the hostname to correspond to the IP, and that should allow you to use the server by name. Not sure if this is exactly what you want. Also if Samba (File Share) ports are not open through the VPN then there is another problemo.


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## KarlN83 (Nov 7, 2008)

Ok thanks guys, I will try this and report back.


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