File transfer over VPN

[sorcererstone]

Hello all,

I am looking for a solution to backup data folders from one site to another remote site through a secured connection. I am new to VPN and FTP.

I have researched on the web to find out what I need to get done and I am still not sure whether I got the basic concept correct.
Wonder if someone is kind enough to provide some feedback to me.

I believe I need to establish a VPN between the two sites. Then FTP the data folders between the two sites using a client-server FTP structure.

VPN Questions
1/ To provide a secured connection, I need a VPN connection between the client and the remote server. Correct?

2/ I used WinXP’s VPN. During the VPN setup, the installation never asked me for the IP address of my router. Was that normal? Does it mean the setup can detect the IP address of the (external) router and the IP address of the computer automatically?

3/ Is the free Hamachi VPN a better (i.e. more secured, encrypted etc) VPN than the VPN in WinXP? Or there are no major differences?

FTP Questions
I am not sure about the IP addressing wrt to FTP.
Suppose the two sites have the following IP addresses:
Site A (the client) - External IP address (the router): 9.11.12.13; local IP address for the client computer: 192.168.0.100; port #: 21
Site B (the server) - External IP address (the router): 7.22.33.44; local IP address for the server computer: 192.168.0.80; port #: 21
Port forwarding port21 to the routers on both sites.

i/ When running a FTP program, the program normally ask for the host name of the remote ftp server. Since I don’t have a host name on the remote server side, I should use the IP address 7.22.33.44 instead. Correct?

ii/ Since I setup VPN on both sides (between the client computer and the remote server computer), am I safe to assume that when FTP data folder from the client (192.160.1.100) machine to the server machine (192.168.0.80), this process is done through the above VPN automatically?

iii/ Am I correct to say that when FTP files from the client to the remote server, the client only recognize the remote server as 7.22.33.44 and not 192.168.0.80:21 Likewise, the server only sees the IP address of the client as 9.11.12.13 and not 192.160.1.100:21 And the reason is all the local IP addresses of the network computers are hide behind the router and firewall?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dberg35]

Even before VPN and FTP are covered here how large are the files you are backing up and what is the bandwidth at each site? Also look at online backup solution like Carbonite or Mozy.

 

[Shad007]

You may also want to look into SFTP (FTP transfers using SSH encryption). VPN basically encrypts your data as it passes from your source address to your destination. The destination gateway decrypts the packets based on a negotiation method determined when the VPN 'tunnel' is created. SFTP acts pretty much the same way however it utilises SSH (Secure Shell) encryption over port 22. This can be a cheaper and easier solution to implement if you use the right software.

Checkout programs like CoreFTP