CGD resources such as compute servers, storage, and printers reside within a security perimeter. Connecting to these resources from outside the perimeter, such as from home, the guest wireless, or from a non-CGD maintained system requires an additional step to traverse the perimeter.
Users have two options for connecting:
VPN - Connecting via VPN is like sitting at your desk at the Mesa. Once connected, you can open any CGD resource just as if you were sitting in your office. The downside is that it requires installing additional software on your system.
Perimeter Hosts - By first connecting to a CGD host that sits on the perimeter, you can then SSH from that host to other hosts within the perimeter. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but if all you need is a command line on a compute server, this will suffice.
Useful tools for remote sessions:
VNC - If you need to run a graphically intensive application such as IDL or Matlab, use VNC to remotely connect to the console of the server rather than pass the traffic via an Xsession. It's like being logged into the system itself, and passing back screenshots of what you would normally see on your desktop. You will need to have a VPN running if you are remote, or be on the UCAR Internal network.