VPN Access for Faculty and Staff
Connecting to the Virtual Private Network (VPN) will allow you to directly access your network drive without going through your internet browser or another FTP program. You can map your network drive directly just as you would on campus and you can open and save files directly from and to your network drive. Please refrain from making unnecessary connections to the VPN. When you are done using the service please disconnect.
The speed of this connection will be dependant upon your connection to the internet. If you are connecting form home with a dial-up connection, then you might not want to try to open a very large file from your network drive because it will take several minutes or longer depending on the size of the file.
If youre using a broadband connection and router, the first thing to check is whether your router has any settings for PPTP "pass through". These are commonly found in Linksys routers. The picture below shows a shot of the bottom of Linksys' BEFSR41 Filters screen, with a selection to enable PPTP pass through.
- VPN Setup for Windows XP
To set up a VPN connection go to Start | Settings | Network Connections or right click on My Network Places and select properties.
1. Click on Create a new connection
2. Click Next
3. Click on Connect to a network at my workplace | Next
4. Click on Virtual Private Network Connection | Next
5. Enter a name for your connection (ex. SMCM) | Next
6. Enter the IP Address of vpn.smcm.edu | Next
7. Select My Use Only | Next
8. Click Finish. The connection has now been created.
9. Open the Control Panel and double click on Network Connections. Right click on the VPN icon and select properties.
10. Click on Networking | highlight Internet Protocol and select properties. Click the Advanced button. Make sure that Use default gateway on remote network is unchecked and click OK until you are back to the Network Connections screen.
11. You may now double click the VPN icon to connect to the SMCM VPN server.
- VPN Setup for the MAC
These instructions assume that you have OS 10.2(Jaguar) or newer, and that you have applied the latest updates. These instructions should work for most versions of OS 10.x, but there may be differences.
Important Note: While you are connected to your network drive through this VPN, you will not be able to surf to internet sites beyond the St. Marys Web Pages. To connect to other internet sites, you will need to disconnect from the VPN.
1. You will need to run the Internet Connect Program. If you do not know where to find this program, it is in the Applications folder on your Hard Drive.
2. Once Internet Connect is running, make sure that it is the active application and then click on File and then select the New VPN Connection Window Option.
3. Select PPTP as the protocol to use. Click Continue.
4. In the New VPN Connection Window, enter the VPN Server Address, which is vpn.smcm.edu and then enter the username and password that you would normally use to check your e-mail on campus. Then Click on Connect.
5. When the status in the lower left corner of the New VPN Connection Window says that you are connected, you can minimize the internet connection windows and connect to your network drive almost exactly as you would have done from your office.
6. To disconnect when you are done, just click on the minimized New VPN Connection Window, and then click on Disconnect.
Mapping Your Network Drives
- To map a drive in Windows XP:
1. Open My Computer
2. Click Tools, and then click Map Network Drive.
3. In the Drive box, click a drive letter; G: is the recommendation
4. In the Folder box, type\\facshares\<username>$or\\staffshares\<username>$
5.Click Finish
- To map a drive in Mac OS X:
1. Click the Finder icon in the Dock.
2. Choose Connect to Server from the Go menu. In the address field of the Connect to Server dialog, typesmb://facshares.smcm.edu/<username>$orsmb://staffshares.smcm.edu/<username>$
3. Click Connect.
4. You will be prompted for your username and password, leave the domain as SMCM.
Page last updated on 10.17.2005