How much bandwidth does a VPN connection use

[cmazzella]

I have recently built a VPN for my company using a T1 that we also use for internet access. What I am trying to figure out is how much Bandwidth a VPN connection uses. I don't want to find myself in a postion where the VPN connections effect our ability to access the internet.

[dipankarpal]

its imprtant to know what applications u r usin over the vpn links. the band width consumption will be dependent on the application only.

[tdeboard1]

What type of device are you using to terminate your VPN tunnels? If you are using something like the 3005 concentrator, then you can login to the administrative console of the concentrator and it will show you how much bandwidth has been used on a session-by-session basis.

[r-simpson]

It is a good idea to enable QoS so that your bandwidth is properly allocated. Bandwidth usage is slightly higher because of the packet header size but I don’t think it’s dramatic. The biggest issue is the processing power and it doesn’t sound like you are even terminating the tunnels on the router so this shouldn’t be a problem for you. There’s a good paper that discusses bandwidth among other things at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/so/cuso/epso/sqfr/safev_wp.htm