remote access service (RAS)
Remote Access Service (RAS) is an application service where the remote workstation has access to a computer, the corporate network or other in-house communications equipment. This allows employees in branch offices or telecommuters working from home offices to access the corporate network.
Remote access can be established from the workstation computer, a desktop, notebook or a tablet PC via dial-up lines or the Internet. The connection between the remote client and the RAS server is established using RAS protocols, such as Point-to-Point Protocol( PPP) or Serial Line Internet Protocol( SLIP).
The RAS service forms the basis for communications-oriented homeworking, or telecommuting. The remote workstation has access to all in-house communication facilities such as e-mail, databases, file transfer or client-server architectures. In addition to pure text and data-based applications, the RAS service is increasingly being used to transfer audio, video and moving image documents or to perform remote maintenance with desktop virtualization. Crucial to the RAS service is the potential access to more bandwidth, which can be increased by bundling and special algorithms for compression.
With some network protocols, tunneling can be used to establish a secure connection over the Internet via the Point to Point Tunneling Protocol( PPTP).