Patent ID: 8910270

Claim:
A method for enabling remote access to a private network resource connected to a private network from a client computer outside of the private network, wherein the private network comprises an edge resource, the method comprising: (A) receiving, at the edge resource of the private network, a communication from the client computer, the communication including an identifier, associated with the private network resource, that is resolvable on the private network to a first Internet Protocol (IP) address for the private network resource and that is resolvable outside of the private network to a the second IP address for the edge resource; (B) resolving the identifier associated with the private network resource, on the private network, to the first IP address of the private network resource, the resolving comprising providing the identifier associated with the private network to a first Domain Name System (DNS) server of the private network, and, receiving the first IP address of the private network resource from the first DNS server of the private network, the first DNS server being different from the private network resource and the edge resource; (C) transmitting the communication to the private network resource, wherein the act (C) of transmitting the communication to the intended recipient comprises: (C1) applying at least one security policy for the private network to determine whether the communication should be permitted to be transmitted to a private network resource that is the intended recipient of the communication; and (C2) if it is determined in act (C1) that the communication should be permitted, transmitting the communication, (D) receiving, at the edge resource, a second communication from a second client computer, the communication including a second identifier; (E) applying the at least one security policy for the private network to determine whether the communication should be transmitted to a second private network resource that is an intended recipient of the second communication; and (F) if it is determined in act (E) that the second communication should not be permitted, not transmitting the second communication, wherein the first DNS server is connected to the private network and outside and private DNS entries are stored in a data store that is included in the first DNS server, wherein the outside and private DNS entries are used to resolve identifiers for resources connected to both the private network and the outside network; wherein a second DNS server is connected to the outside network and outside DNS entries are stored in a data store that is included in the second DNS server; wherein the outside DNS entries are used to resolve identifiers for resources connected to the outside network.