Question about VPN

[KurskKnyaz]

Here is the situation:

We have an office that shares documents that I need to access from my house and from Russia when I visit there. Currently, we have a system where the documents are on a hosted FTP server, I download them, edit them, and then use software to synch the updated copies with the ones on the FTP server.

What I want to do is have the documents on our office server, connect to the server from home and Russia via VPN, and work with the documents as if I was in the office opening them up from a shared network folder. I have a few concerns.

1. Will the office, my house and the office in Russia need static IPs? If not, is DynDNS recommended or do static IPs have some sort of advantage?

2. Will all my routers have to have some kind of VPN features such as IPSEC pass through even though the server will be accepting the VPN connection?

3. Can ISPs somehow block or limit VPN? Will I have any problem connecting from Russia?

4. What is the minimum download/upload speed that I will need at all locations? AFAIK VPN adds some overhead to packets being sent. These are just Word and Excel files; nothing crazy. I have DSL at the office, Cable at home and I think the internet in Russia uses the 3G/4G radio band.

5. Is this a practical solution or is there a better one? I really hate using the synching software. I would like to work remotely as if I was part of the office network.

6. Also, what is the best method for users to access and edit documents simultaneously? Is this even possible?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[KurskKnyaz]

One more thing:

If a VPN connection is established is it possible to configure clients to use the local internet for everything else that does not pertain to VPN? I rather use my local internet download a web page rather than send the request to the remote network and have the connection at my office send the page to me via VPN.

Thanks again.

 

[drebo]

I would recommend a Sharepoint document repository and a simple L2TP VPN.

To answer your questions, the office should have a static IP, but for dial-in VPNs, neither client location will need one.

All routers will need to understand an not try to screw with the AH/ESP and IPSec packets, yes. Some consumer-level crap has a tendancy to screw with packets it shouldn't screw with, so you will want to look for "IPSec" or "VPN" "Passthrough" features on the associated routers. If they don't work, replace them. Consumer routers are cheap.

ISPs absolutely can block VPN access. SSL VPNs are the most likely to be able to get around this, but lots of countries have laws against encryption, so whether you can use that is up to local law.

The speed will be whatever your speed is. If you're OK with waiting a few extra seconds, your current connections should be more than sufficient.

If you have a Microsoft Windows Server at your office, Sharepoint Foundation is a free product that is specifically written to control revisions and facilitate document sharing. It works pretty well, too. You can't edit files simultaneously, though. That sort of thing doesn't really work for Word and Excel files. Access files could work, though, depending on how the database is written.

In regards to your second past, that is known as "split tunneling" and is absolutely possible to configure. How it's configured is dependent upon your VPN server and client software.

Last, but not least, if you want this done right with the fewest headaches, hire a consultant. The couple hundred dollars you'd pay them will be well worth it. I'm sure that your time would be better spent doing whatever other job you do at the company, rather than tinkering with stuff like this.

 

[dawks]

Alternatively you could simply use Dropbox for syncing files. Its incredibly useful, and easy. It uses SSL for the network connection between desktops and the dropbox server. Files are apparently decryptable by dropbox, so if you want extra security you could use a truecrypt file volume and sync it over dropbox.

 

[KurskKnyaz]

Thanks for your help!

 

[Tsaico]

I like the Sharepoint, it will also let other you work with to see the files and know who has them "checked" out, if they were updated etc.

Drop box is great if if is just you going between locations.