What is Remote Web Access?

Published: April 26, 2010

Updated: March 30, 2011

Applies To: Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials

When you are away from your office, you can open a web browser and access Remote Web Access from anywhere that has Internet access. In Remote Web Access, you can:

  • Access shared files and folders on the server.

  • Access your server and computers on the network. This means that you can access the desktop of a networked computer as if you were sitting in front of it at your office.

Remote Web Access is not turned on by default. When you run the Turn on Remote Web Access wizard, the wizard attempts to set up your router and Internet connectivity. After Remote Web Access is turned on, you can set up a domain name for your server and customize Remote Web Access. You can also set up the router again if you change your router.

Permission to access the Remote Web Access is not automatically granted when you add a new user account. When you add a user account, you can choose to allow access to shared folders; computers; Home page links; and the server Dashboard. You can also specify that a user not be allowed to use Remote Web Access.

The Remote Web Access setting is displayed for each user account on the Users tab of the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials Dashboard. To change the Remote Web Access setting, right-click the user account, and then click View the account properties.

To help maintain security, you cannot enable Remote Web Access for the Guest account. You must add a user account and then enable Remote Web Access for that user account.