Leased DSL/T1 lines

[WannaFly]

Ok. My friend and I were discussing a network layout. It went like this:
1 Main HQ
3 outside offices, different cities

the three outside offices needed to be able to connect tot he HQ servers.
Now, i said that you would lease a DSL/T1 and use that to VPN site2site.
He said to lease a "private" DSL/T1 and no VPN would be needed, and ALL internet traffic would go through the HQ. Is this possible? I thought that ANY leased line is internet connected, and then companies VPN on that. He basically said that you lease a direct line to the HQ.
Sorry if this sounds confusing...

 

[spidey07]

Sure you can have a leased line between two points - its very common.

You can also have a leased line to an ISP - very common.

If he wants to run everything through corporate that cool too - keeps his firewall and security in one place.
If he wants all of the sites to have internet lines and use VPN - that's cool too.

 

[WannaFly]

Ok, so is this scenerio possible:

A -- HQ -- B

HQ = T3
A, B = leased DSL to HQ
The DSL is given a PRIVATE IP from HQ, on each end. In order to get webpages/email and such A,B have to send their data through HQ's T3.

I didnt think this was possible, i thought that that any leased line like this was just an ISP using a VPN, and internet access was still available on the DSL.

 

[spidey07]

Nope - a leased line is just a data circuit between two points. Whether it is between a customer and an ISP or between two locations of the same company...It is still just a circuit.

Just as a clarification almost anything is possible with networks. Almost anything.

 

[bozo1]

I've yet to see point-to-point DSL.

For leased lines, most companies do T-1 or Fractional T-1 either point to point (usually more expensive) from one office to another or Frame Relay (usually less expensive) in which the traffic enters the telco's IP cloud and comes out wherever you want, usually the other office but it could be an ISP. In those scenarios, no Internet at all is involved unless your end point is an ISP.

For DSL or Cable connections, you are piped into your ISP like a normal user but you do VPN to connect to the other office.

You're example above is the way most companies do it except without the 'private DSL' part. Even companies that use VPN over regular DSL or Cable lines usually require all internet traffic to go through the main office for security reasons. (proxy servers, traffic monitoring, etc.)

 

[ScottMac]

I've worked with a couple companies that use "private" DSL: The DSL from the employee's home is routed on (what is essentially) a private circuit back to the office. The Clean Air Act inspired many corporations to increase their 'Work From Home" programs - DSL is (was?) less expensive to implement.

The connection to the company is still a T1 / Frac T1 (or T3 / Frac T3), but the DSL traffic from the home users is routed directly to the company. Internet access, if allowed, happens through the company connection/firewall/security. It is frequently connected to the company's computer, and the usual security rules apply.

There's no magic to DSL, it's still just another signalling technique.

FWIW

Scott