VPNs and Telecommuters

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VPNs and Telecommuters

• David Strom (david_at_strom.com)
• Connected Home 5/02

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My background

• Author of Home Networking Survival Guide book
  from Osborne/McGraw Hill
• Senior Technology Editor, VAR Business
• Founding Editor-in-Chief, Network Computing
• Tested numerous networking and security products

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Why bother with VPNs?

• Small business branch office
• Encrypted communications between business
  partners
• Remote network access

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Pre-VPN choices

• Email and attach documents
• FTP files back and forth to a common site
• Use PGP or other email encryption tools
• Security by obscurity (why would anyone hack my
  network?)
• Expensive, dedicated frame relay networks

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Role of integrators with VPNs

• Help with their rollout and configuration
• Help with remote support and troubleshooting
• Recommend equipment and configuration
• Include as part of overall telecommuting
  application

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Issue 1 Ease of use

• VPNs still vexing
• Matched pair problem
• Hardware or software choices not always obvious

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Issue 2 Cable providers dont like home networks

• Getting static IPs can be a problem
• Changing MAC addresses is an issue
• Administering and supporting a home network is
  sometimes beyond their abilities or interest
• Yet all cable modems come with Ethernet!

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Issue 3 Providers hate VPNs

• Well, maybe they are more ignorant than hate them
• Some dont include VPNs in their TOS
• Some do everything they can to discourage their
  use (frequent IP changes, for example)

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Issue 4 Remote support

• Coordinating a VPN roll out for telecommuters can
  swamp a small tech support department
• Variations in Windows OS, and non-Windows PCs can
  be difficult!
• What if users require more than one tunnel?

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Overall market trends

• VPN hardware is getting cheaper (Linksys and
  CheckPoint are two notable examples)
• Getting cost competitive with a dedicated frame
  relay network now
• Better integration with OS (started with Win2k)
• IPsec interoperability getting better (if you
  know how to configure things)
• Web-based service provider networks coming into
  vogue

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State of VPNs

• Software now comes included in residential
  gateways like Sonic and Netgear
• Still too hard for the average consumer, and the
  average business computer user
• But wider support is inevitable
• Costs too much and requires some careful
  justification
• VPN.net A new way of establishing VPNs