Help: need info on setting up a basic VPN

[PammyBoy]

Hello All,

I'm not new to computers, I'm a programmer by trade, however, I've taken over sys admin duties at my office and I'm learning as i'm going. A few employees requested network access from home and after doing a little research, I've decided on a VPN. The only problem is, I don't know exactly what I need to setup a basic VPN. We're running a windows 2000 server network and it connects to the internet through sDSL via an efficient networks 5851 router. I believe I need another NIC card for the server, since as of now it only has one. Is there a way to setup a VPN with only one NIC? Any help would be appreciated.

-"In over my head!"

 

[Skadaddle]

PammyBoy,

With WIN2K you need to setup the Windows Remote access and routing component. (You will find it in the Administator tools section) Don't use the "wizard" to set it up it has some bugs in it. There are instructions at the Microsoft website on how to set it up manually. No you don't need two NIC's. Also, Make sure the router can pass VPN traffic. Open port 1723 for this.

Good Luck.

-Skadaddle

 

[Marcs41]

for the port, you may need to ask the ISP and don't forget to ask for the GRE protocol as well!

Is the entire network directly connected to the router or is the internal LAN after the 2000.
In either case you do not really need a second NIC, as long as you route the VPN traffic to your 2000 server.
A second NIC to seperate the internal network from the router would be safer of course, but will require a change in settings on all PC's (higly recommended though) The solution is out there.

 

[PammyBoy]

The network, the server and the router are connected to a hub. The server isn't directly connected to the router. I'm guessing I'll need a second nic card that'll be directly connected to the router and I'm assuming that'll be the card that I forward the port on the router to? Is this correct? Thank you for the help.

 

[Marcs41]

Ouch, dangerous situation as I guessed.
Never ever connect every single PC to a router, you have no control over outgoing or incoming hacks etc.
So, let's say NIC1 of the 2000 goes to the router, NIC2 to a hub. All internal clients goto the hub. The 2000 must play the gateway role for internet access, with additional safety measures like proxy control, firewall, antivirus,...
On the router, all ports must be forwarded to the NIC1 address and the 2000 is then to act as the VPN server.
Mind you, this is a serious job to modify you internal LAN, so I would suggest you start testing with 1 PC only, managed by the 2000 server. That will give you som insight what modifications to make on all others. The solution is out there.

 

[PammyBoy]

Great! Thank you very much.