As its name suggests, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a secure connection linking two of more locations so they become the same private network. These are typically used to connect satellite offices or home workers to a company network so they can continue to work as if they were at the head office.
As many companies utilize this technology, let's look at the pro's and con's.
Pros
- They allow for the connection of the remote user(s) to the head office so they can log on as if they were actually there.
- They can come in both hardware and software form and are easy to set-up and use.
- They are not expensive.
Cons
- The connection speed will depend on the broadband connections for both the head office and the remote office / end user. As the majority of broadband connections in the UK are slow, this will greatly impact performance.
A typical connection to the Internet for a small business is a broadband line. It has a download speed and an upload speed but these are not the same. In the UK the average download speed is between 6MB - 8MB and the average upload speed is 1MB. This is fine for general Internet browsing but when you want to move large files between two separate geographical locations it is very limiting.
Let's take the example from the scenario below:
- User A wants to access a large file on server B. He is in the same location and on the same physical network as the server. He browses to the file and opens it on his PC. It opens instantly as he is connecting to the server at a speed of 1000MB (1GB).
- User C wants to access a large file on server B. He is in a different geographical location and connected via a VPN over the Internet. He browses to the file and opens it on his PC. It is very slow as he is limited in his connection to the server by the slowest speed that he has to traverse between his machine and the server. Therefore the file is transferred at 1MB.
As you can see, the Internet connection speed is a major handicap. This is made worse by the fact the broadband connections are also utilized for many other services so the available bandwidth for the Remote Office is even less.
Examples of these are:
- VOIP calls
- General Internet browsing
- Downloads of Microsoft and other supplier updates
- Online backups
- The use of Internet radio and music streaming sites such as Spotify
- Facebook and social media sites
- Torrent sites (download of pirated video's and music)
To improve the user experience you have the following options:
- Ensure all online backups are done overnight
- Ban the use of music streaming sites and the download of non work related data
- Schedule all software updates to be done overnight
- Update your broadband connection to the fastest one available for the area
If this is not sufficient you must consider the following more expensive options:
- Install WAN Accelerators. These are devices that sit at both the Head Office and Remote Office and compress the data prior to transfer. This means the amount of data sent between the two sites is small resulting in a faster transfer time.
- Install a Terminal Server at the Head Office. This allows users to have a virtual desktop at the Head Office site. When they open a file in Microsoft Office for example, that file is opened at the Head Office site and the only data transferred to the Remote Site is the image of a desktop. This greatly reduces the amount of data transferred over the VPN. You should be aware some server / client applications will not work on a Terminal Server.
- Install a Fibre Leased Line. This is a very reliable option but for most small business is cost prohibitive.
In the end it all comes down to value for money. Are you happy to put up with the slower speeds of VPN over broadband or is it more economically beneficial to move to one of the more expensive options. The choice is yours.
Delivered by iTech. IT Support for Small and Medium Business in London and the South.
Carl Howell
itech.co.uk
Monday, 20 February 2012
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