VPN Router Recommendation

[ccarney]

We have a small office network consisting of:
Speedstream 5100 DSL Modem
Netgear RP614v2 4-port Router
Netgear 24-port Switch
5 PCs (3 XP Pro, 2 XP Home)

We will soon be introducing a Win 2003 Server as well as VPN to the network.

The VPN is required for users working from home (at most 4 users concurrently at least for the near future).

I believe that I have the following options:

1. Keep the RP614 Router and use PPTP/port-forwarding to the Win2003 server .

2. Replace the RP614 Router with a VPN Router (FVS318) and just put the Win2003 server on the network.

3. Remove the router and use Win2003 as both a router and VPN server (although I've read this isn't a good idea).

Can someone recommend the 'best' route forward?

I am in a position to do this the 'right' way from the start, but haven't done anything with VPN or Servers before (other than read a lot about them recently).

Thanks for any advice.

 

[ChicagoTechNet]

1 and 2 sounds OK. Using 2003 server as NAT/VPN may not be a good iead. are you going to setup intrenal DNS and DC? quoted form

http://www.ChicagoTech.net

It is not recommended to setup DNS on multihomed DC.
Dual home DCs, especially if it's a DNS server, are not recommended, as you are experiencing. The dual entries in DNS cause lookup problems for domain enumeration. IF a client gets the outside IP address of the DC, they won't be able to communicate with the DC.



Robert Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Windows, Network and How to at

http://www.ChicagoTech.net

 

[ccarney]

OK, that confirms options 1 and 2 are the better ones.

Do I lose any functionality by setting up port-forwarding in the existing non-VPN router, compared to upgrading to a VPN router? Is the only difference that the VPN router does it automatically so I don't have to define and enable the PPTP service myself? Not really worth the upgrade if that's the case.

We will have internal DNS at some point. If the office network DNS is handled by the Win2003 server, and the router handles the VPN/port-forwarding for the office network, have I removed any IP addressing conflicts from external client connections?

Thanks.