VPN + Remote desktop setup?

Question

I am new to VPN and somewhat also remote desktop, so I have tried to do some reading on it. I need a solution, so I an access my main computer when traveling in case I am needed.

• I have my computer behind a router, so I will need to do port forwarding.
• I want to set up the VPN in a way, so only my computer containing the VPN is directly accessible. (Maybe over time also other network resources like database running on other computers in the LAN? Or would I have to have the databases running on the computer VPN'ed into?)
• I then want to set up remote desktop on my computer - and only allow local connections.

The advantages of using remote desktop inside VPN seems to me are:

• For a hacker (manual or automated) to get critical access, it would require hacking both my VPN and remote desktop (would be an admin account, so important access is not compromised) before gaining control over the computer.
• The VPN thing could also allows me to simply share some file drives and database which could be useful in situations, where I do not care for using remote desktop.

Is above correct or is some of above wrong and/or not feasible? I would like to have a setup that I can leave unattended running for e.g. a week without worrying if the computer might get hacked. Both my desktop and laptop are Win7/Win8, so I am thinking that I should be able to use the built-in VPN and remote desktop features.

Answer 1

For remote desktop I think you are safe to use native remote desktop features as the clients work well enough.

For a VPN, I would suggest not using Windows built-in VPN (PPTP) as it's not too secure. You can read more information regarding that https://www.cloudcracker.com/blog/2012/07/29/cracking-ms-chap-v2/

I would setup OpenVPN on one of the computers in bridge mode, this way you can access your LAN if needed. This would only require you opening a port for OpenVPN in your router.