Orlando Andico wrote:
there's a MUCH easier way.
just get ONE pc, run pptpd on it (PPPoE) of course it has to be Linux
or some other UNIX (Fedora works well, there are RPMs for it). this is
gonna be your VPN server.
at each branch, just use the built-in VPN client of Windows 2000/XP to
connect to your PPTP server.
QED.
on the other hand, if you have a ton of Win9x boxes at each site get
one of the Linksys BEFS41 firewall/routers (less than 5000 a pop) one
for each branch. same old, the Linksys has a built-in VPN client. you
still need the VPN server though.
use routers with vpn end-point support on all branches. use that
end-point feature to connect them together and form a 'single' lan. then
you won't have to have a vpn server in your head office nor vpn clients
in your branches.
the linksys BEFSX41 (orly probably meant this model) supports two
end-point tunnels so in theory you can even form a ring for fault
tolerance. the RV series supports more and has a second internet link
for redundancy.
or if you have spare pcs, use mandrake's (now mandriva) mnf. 2 years ago
i had mnf on a pentium classic pc and it only went off-line just
recently because the motherboard failed. the mb was promptly
replaced/upgraded and it went back to service w/ minimum effort. another
client used mnf on entry level compaqs to connect two netware networks
via dsl. the added advantage of course is that on both installations mnf
had squid for proxied internet access. this was before vpn appliances
became popular so by this time it may be cheaper (and simpler) to just
get an appliance.
hth.
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