VPN setup for telecommuting via Cable 1

[delee2]

I am hoping someone can help me out with a suggestion on a VPN solution. I am a network administrator who will be going on maternity leave in a few months. I would like to be able to continue my duties from home. The setup is as follows:

Home computer: Windows 2000 Workstation, cable modem

Work computer: Windows 2000 Workstation, cable modem directly connected to workstation. Connected network is Novell Netware 5.0.

The cable modem at work (which is not installed yet) will be connected to only my work computer for telecommuting purposes and will have a static IP assigned to it. What I need to do is be able to log into the Novell network through my work computer or home computer and be able to run admin software. (My company does not want to have the direct cable connection to our router or server for security reasons). Can I do this without having to use some sort of software like PCAnywhere which I hear is pretty flakey?

I am also looking into getting the SonicWall Tele2 at each location for extra means of security.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Debbie

 

[UNIX72]

There are numerous ways you can acheive this! VPN could be very secure it all depends on what tunneling and encryption methods you use. I personally go with IPSec and 3DES, but since it's not going through you company's routers than go with PPTP. By chance do you have a 2000 professional pc avaliable because 2000 comes with a free VPN solution.

 

[delee2]

Yes, both locations will be using Windows 2000 Professional. I just wasn't sure if that was secure enough and wondered if I should also get the hardware firewall as well. Can I do without PCAnywhere?

Thanks again!

 

[UNIX72]

Well there is your answer. If you want to be extra secure than go with the firewall, but make sure the firewall supports PPTP or L2TP which will be your tunneling protocols on your 2000 pc. VPN is easy to setup in 2000. You don't need pcanywhere! unless you want to visually adminstator your pc at work. When you setup your client on your home pc just make sure you specify the logon option which will let you access novell resources. Any questions post back.

 

[delee2]

Thanks so much!

 

[sKeeZ]

dblee00,

If you are looking for a remote desktop control application, go to

http://www.netop.com

and look at the NetOp remote control software. We currently have over fourty support people connecting across the Internet via VPN and supporting eighteen Win2K servers using this. The client is much "thinner" than other remote control apps and very stable.

If you decide to connect to your workstation at the office as you described above, be very careful to lock down any unneeded ports and if you have the option disable ICMP response to help keep your machine "hidden" to net-scanners and the lot...

Bruce : )

 

[nedstar1]

You might also try Radmin from famatech. It's a lot cheaper than PC anywhere, and the refresh rates seem to be faster as well. Supports crazy high resolution for those broadband connections also.

Goodluck
N*1

 

[delee2]

Thank you for the responses. The cable installation at work is a few weeks away, but I will definately try out all your suggestions once the cable modem is installed. I'll be back if I run into any problems. Any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[delee2]

Okay, I am back for more advice. I finally got our cable modem installed at work yesterday. I have also purchased 2 SonicWall Tele2 devices. One for home and one for work. I haven't configured either one or tried to set up the VPN yet. I had talked to SonicWall's tech support concerning my unique setup and they made it sound a little difficult (having to configure "packet forwarding" on our Cisco routers at work), so I am hoping that someone can help me out here.

This is my current setup.

Work: Cable modem, Windows 2000 workstation, connected to Novell network, SonicWall Tele2 VPN security device.

Home: Cable modem, Windows 2000 workstation, SonicWall Tele2 VPN security device.

What I need to do is work from home just as if I was at work. If it is possible, to act like a node on my work network. I would need to access administrative tools on my work network (Novell) like NWAdmin (to add/remove users, set file rights, etc...) and RConsole. I would also like to access files on the network and possibly my work PC.

The thing I want to stress is that the cable modem for work is for telecommuting and to only be used by me. We do not want the rest of the network to be able to access the internet with this cable modem. They will use our company provided internet access through our corporate division.

SonicWall's manual says to set up the device as follows: Plug your cable modem into the WAN port and connect to a hub on the LAN to the LAN port. The only problem with this is I am afraid that the users on the LAN will be able to access the internet through the cable modem. I would rather the cable modem and SonicWall be invisible and undetectable to everyone but myself. Also, I was told if I hook it up this way, my computer at home would show up at work where others could access it.

I thought at first that I would maybe have 2 nic cards in my Windows 2000 workstation at work and have one connected to the LAN and the other connected to the SonicWall Tele2 which is connected to the cable modem. This way, I thought that any connection made through the cable modem would have to go through my workstation and wouldn't be able to access the network without somehow getting through the workstation. From what tech support told me, this would be complicating and it is best to hook it up the other way. He said without "packet forwarding" on our corporate Cisco routers, I would request something on our Novell server and it would get lost because it wouldn't know how to go back through the SonicWalls to get to me at home.

Is there anyone that can help with some pretty detailed device for my situation? This is just a VPN for a single person that wants to access a Novell network. I would prefer for my computer at home to act as a node on the network at work, but if this is impossible, will I need to use some sort of remote control software like PCAnywhere or NetOP or Radmin (as some has mentioned above)? I hear that it would be really slow using software on top of the hardware VPN.

Thanks in advance for your answers!