What to use what to do?

[holly]

I have been reading researching you name it until I am blue in the face and am still no surer of what VPN structure is going to be right for our corporation. I will not only have around 60 remote users but also 2 office to office connections. We are a non-profit so money is tight and ever tighter with the budget cuts that are looming. What would any of you suggest to use with the facts that you have limited funds and limited staff to help you set up a VPN not to mention that you have a very limited time frame. Now I do have DSL connections in each of the sites that will be part of the VPN with the exception of a couple that are still in progress so with this limited information what is the popular vote. Hardware, software, routers, bridges ????? Most of you have done this I am sure from the looks of this forum but please be honest as to the pros and cons.

Thank you sincerely for those that take the time to give advise,

Holly

[gfullage]

If money's tight then you want to try and use your existing equipment as much as possible. You don't say what you're currently using, but most routers/firewalls nowadays are also VPN boxes, or at least can be turned into them with some software and configuration.

If you're using Cisco routers currently then they can easily be configured to accept VPN connections, and the VPN client is free if you have a maintenance contract with us (I think). These will handle your remote users and your office to office connections. At the two remote offices you'll obviously also need a router/firewall, but any device that runs standard IPSec should be able to build a tunnel to another device running standard IPSec.

Just try and usewhat you've currently got. You may need to upgrade software or hardware, but it'll be cheaper than purchasing all new equipment.

[#3]

Out of curiosity, if a cisco 1000 router is what I have, can it run a VPN client?

I'm getting the sneaking suspicion it may not have the memory to handel the tunneling requirements...

I've begun to believe all roads point to hardware upgrade...

[holly]

Thanks for the advise. I am hoping that what I do currently have will work fine. It is not a cisco it is a Siemens se5940 which does have the options that I would need. The router at the other office should also work. I am mainly worried about some of the clients that I will be connecting as some still run Win 98SE and the systems are not very new either. The Win2K systems will work fine. The server I will be using is a Windows 2000 advanced server but already carries quite a load of applications so that is why the router needs to hold the brunt of the connections. I know there are alot of free client VPN software choices out there but they all claim to be better than the other and that is the hardest part. I am thinking on small routers at each site so as the systems don't have to be bogged down with more software. What do you think of that? I think it might be too expensive is there any client software that you would suggest for the Win 98SE clients? Thanks for taking the time to help! Holly