atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX Networking VPN Questions

Here is my plan: I have a cable modem at one office and DSL with a static IP at the other. the cable modem has a static IP as well. At the home office (w/ the cable modem) i have a server with 6 clients, the application is a basic payroll system, client software runs a PCs, server is a windows machine.

at the office with the DSL, I want to install the client software on maybe 2 PCs, to connect to the server back at the home office.

I believe VPN is the solution for me. I've looked at the adtran netvanta 2050 and the multitech RF560VPN.

what I do not understand is how the client software on the PC at the remote site knows to connect to the server via the VPN rather than just sending packets over the Internet or the small LAN at the remote office.

know what I mean? can anyone give me some ideas as to what I am not understanding?

It's pretty simple.

You set up a routing table based on destination addresses. You can either do this with a software based VPN package, or with a hardware based VPN package (linksys has these, etc.)

The VPN device looks at the destination, and analyzes whether or not it's internet bound, or VPN bound, and routes accordingly.

It's not too hard, you can do it without software if you have Windows 2000 or XP and use a Linksys VPN router. They have instructions on how to set the entire scheme up.

i plan on using a multitech RF550VPN.

from what I understand how the client software connects to the customer's server will by by IP or DNS so we have to make some sort of policy or route that whenever the customer requests to connect to XYZ IP or XYZ hostname, route the data via the VPN and not the internet.

hopefully it is as easy as it sounds.

I'm most familiar with doing network to network vpn with the sonicwall firewalls. If you running the vpn between 2 firewalls, the vpn connection is only at the firewall level and then the ip traffic from the devices on each of the networks can travel the vpn pipe between both of the networks.

Ciao
Randy

thanks, the VPN is up! I mapped a drive to the server from the branch office to the home office.

But the customer wants to see all of the PCs and the server in the workgroup back at the home office. if you are at the home office and go to network neighborhood, you can see all of the PCs and the server. how can we do that over the VPN? any ideas?

Unfortunately, that's impossible without setting up a domain in Windows 2000 or in Windows NT.