WAN - connecting 2 LANs (geographically)

[jlr616]

What are the hardware/software requirements of connecting 2 geographically separated LANs? And what are the expenses involved?

[vass0922]

You'll need a router on both sides, hopefully ones that are capable of doing VPN and if its sensitive data, good encryption (3DES)... but thats optional as VPN is inherently encrypted.

You could go cheaper by doing the routing/VPN with PC's though... it depends on what you want to do, how well protected you're willing to pay for and overall budget in general.

[jlr616]

vass0922 - thanks for your reply. I've been reading up on VPNs (still learning). Would this be an adequate router? http://www.techdepot.com/pro/product...ductid=1179448

What about software? What would you recommend? Are there any links where I can learn more?

[Siliconjunkie]

www.ipcop.org will do a jiffy job with this. Uses freeswan to create a tunnel between 2 boxes. Fairly easy to do, there are docs out there on how to do it with dynamic IPs as well. You can do this with just about any box too.

[Praetorian]

I'm not sure what size of LAN's you're trying to connect, but at work we use T1's to connect 20+ locations to our WAN. They work great.

[Siliconjunkie]

The #1 question would be how much bandwidth do you need? That will determine what kind of connectivity you need.

[jlr616]

Each LAN consists of only a handful computers, so I'm thinking cable/dsl will do just fine.

So besides the initial costs of the hardware/routers and possibly software, are there any additional costs, such as maintenance fees, etc.?

[Siliconjunkie]

If you use ipcop it can be done for the cost of 2 pentium class boxes. There shouldnt be any other fees unless you fodder out the installation and support. But for the most part unless someone fiddles with it, it will just work.