Enable DirectAccess on Windows Server 2012 Essentials

This post is now quite out of date and the instructions within are no longer reliable. Please refer to Microsoft’s own document online for the relevant steps.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj204618.aspx

One of the coolest improvements in Server 2012, is the simplification of DirectAccess. Not just the steps to enable it, but the requirements for your infrastructure to support it. In the past it was beyond most SMBs due to the need to have 2 consecutive public IPs a dedicated DA server, IP 6to4 translation capable equipment, and not to mention Windows 7 Enterprise, which few SMBs deploy. Moving into the 2012 line of products DA has become much more available to SMBs with the reduction in infrastructure requirements. Taking Essentials as an example, we can now run DA using just a standard Internet connected router, and with just our Essentials box as the DA endpoint.

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