VPN - Virtual Private Network

You usually hear the term “VPN” mentioned when you have a situation where you need to connect to your business computer system from a remote location. This could be from a PC at your home, or a laptop you are using while on the road.

 Virtual Private Network. Here is the definition from Wikipedia:

 True VPNs can be traced back to 1996 when Microsoft created a point-to-point tunneling protocol, also known as peer-to-peer tunneling protocol or PPTN. This was a method of creating a secure network between users by encrypting data and forming a tunnel over a LAN or WAN connection. 

 Clear as mud right!  What they are saying is that using the existing telecommunications network, (phones lines, switches, etc.) and some software, they are providing a user with a secure connection between two computers in different physical locations.

 When do you need this? Let’s say that you have a small to medium sized business. You have a few users who need to work from home or from various locations on the road. These could be technicians, service staff, or sales people. When off site, they need to be able to directly access files within the business computer systems. Or maybe run some software that is on the system as well. An example of this would be Quickbooks for accounting, or some other database driven application for managing orders, sales, or work flow.

If your business environment with the right pieces in place, you can provide these select users with a safe and efficient way to get their work done while offsite.

The downside of a VPN setup is that you will need to have some kind of actual Windows Domain Server in place or the equivalent. There will be settings that have to be made in your Router(s) and Firewall. There can also be licensing costs for each individual establishing a VPN connection.

 If your needs are simple, say one or two staff who need to work remote, you can go in a different direction.  There are products like RemotePC, that allow you to establish a remote-control session between a Host PC and a remote PC. In this solution, you would purchase a license for a PC at the located at the business that was dedicated to a specific remote user. The remote user could then use a laptop or pc located at home or in another office, to take control of the dedicated PC at the main office.  So, all software and files in the business location could be accessed by the remote user.  All that is needed is the license for each remote user and a PC or laptop in the main office for them to remote into.

 My recommendation is to start small and simple with software similar to RemotePC or PCAnywhere. Then if the need gets more widespread, you can look into a more robust VPN environment remote.