Re: Frame Relay or VPN?

[Vern Hamberg <vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We use VPN. As Wayne pointed out, you are at the mercy of Internet 
congestion, and you may have bandwidth issues with shared systems like 
cable broadband - DSL may be more dedicated, hence more predictable.

OTOH, you can get in from anywhere you have an Internet connection. And 
anyone else can try, as well. There are also concerns about access leaks 
from you remote machine - your home machine can be a way in for a hacker.

We are a relatively small development operation and are very satisfied with 
a LinkSys VPN router that allows up to 70 VPN connections to be active. 
They do not provide a specific client, but Win2K and XP have the means to 
create security policies for connecting to the LinkSys - ugly to set up but 
work quite well. The LinkSys also is not the most secure animal in town - 
no certificate authentication, e.g. (No attacks, please!)  I personally use 
a once-available software VPN client that works better for me than the 
security policies. It does, however, not coexist with Internet Connection 
Sharing in Windows.

Or the remote sites could have their own VPN router (2 session, maybe), 
which'd handle the connections nicely. Again, pre-defined shared keys is 
the authentication and encryption is not the best - only 3DES and MHA (or 
whatever the name is?).

I would think some expertise is needed to set this up. There are many 
issues I know nothing of. Access with VPN is convenient, esp. with the 
LinkSys, which integrates VPN and NAT router functionality. But convenience 
brings with it some security risks.

Other vendors have much more secure appliances for this - Cisco, etc.

Good luck
Vern

At 03:51 PM 3/5/2004 -0500, you wrote:
> Our current frame relay contract is up in May and I was wondering if 
> anyone is using
> other means of remote communication with the AS/400.  I've researched VPN 
> a bit and
> it sounds like a possibility.  We're not disappointed with our frame relay 
> service
> I'm just thinking that there has to be a cheaper way to do things and 
> now's the time
> to check it out.  Any input is appreciated.  Thanks!
>
> Ed Chabot
> The Marlin Firearms Company
> 100 Kenna Drive
> North Haven, CT 06743
> (203)985-3254