Rice University Proxy Server

Is the proxy server the same as a VPN account?

No. Both the proxy server and a Virtual Private Network (VPN) account allow users to access resources restricted to the Rice network, but they allow access to different resources and do it in slightly different ways.

The proxy server allows access only to web-based resources and does it by verifying who you are using your username and password to your Rice email account (using a secure method which protects your password). Once you verified who you are, you can access Rice-restricted resources for up to two hours before you are asked to identify yourself again.

A VPN account allows to Rice-only web pages, but it also allows other kinds of access like certain kinds of file-sharing and access to Rice computers through a secure shell (Ssh) program, where the computer must appear to be on the Rice network in order for it to work. While the VPN account allows more kinds of access to Rice resources, it requires that your computer have special software installed and that you set up a VPN account in advance. In addition, because VPN works by making your computer appear to be directly on the Rice network, using a VPN account slows down access speed to all web sites and any other network traffic, plusit slows down your computer in general because it has to do to make it look like your computer is on the Rice network.

If I already have a VPN account, shouldn't I just keep using it?

Most users don't ever use the extra kinds of access that a VPN account allows. Unless you move files back and forth to other computers at Rice using TCP/IP or Microsoft file-sharing or use programs like Secure Shell (Ssh) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to access Rice computers, using the proxy server will be much faster and most likely meet all of your needs. Besides, the proxy server doesn't require any software or account setup to use it (unless you don't already have an computer account on one of the many Rice networks).