This blog series is all about the ways our IT Services can save you money. To kick this off we begin with VPN- Virtual Private Network. VPN is where users can use a private and protected network connection over a network which is available to the public.

VPN protects you from hackers and other potential threats by protecting your identity, privacy, and online browsing. Now that we understanding what VPN is and what it does, let us jump right in to how it saves you money by looking at a case study.

VPN Setup – Creating Cost Effective Solutions

Overview & Requirement:
Client B is a small business with less than 5 employees, they have a file server within their main office; but they were looking for a cost effective solution to be able to access their documents from their server remotely whilst travelling for business for extended periods.

Cost Effective Solution:

In this case, Client B only required remote access for the Managing Director and no other employees. So, after looking at various viable options, when considering the budget and time constraints, we opted for an OpenVPN solution. An OpenVPN comprises of a small computer device which is installed within the client’s office that will allow a tunneled connection through to access their private network.

To do this we used an open source Linux –  we used this because it is a free software that can be manipulated to support the OpenVPN solution – along with the free / unlicensed version of OpenVPN (although this only allows two concurrent connections).

The reason we opted for OpenVPN, rather than other standards, was due to the flexibility and security of the platform. It is widely adopted system and thus most mobile devices and operating systems will have a compatible client for access. (i.e. Microsoft/Mac etc.)

Benefits:

• OpenVPN was installed on an inexpensive Raspberry PI device. Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV and uses a standard keyboard and mouse.
• For a small business like this, we can configure the setup and turn it around in a couple of days
• Installation on site for this size setup can take no longer than an hour.
• In this circumstance, we had a single configuration file and was able to pre-load it across multiple devices prior to the client’s departure.
• By creating this setup, it has allowed for a secure tunnel connection to the client’s private network with AES encryption. (AES encryption – Advanced Encryption Standard – is a standard put in place by the government to protect classified information. So, this is a very high standard of protection.)
• There was no impact to the performance within the client’s office as the VPN had been isolated to a separate device and not implemented directly to his server.
• This type of setup is a simple yet intuitive application with a simple toggle button to enable/disable the VPN connection, if required.

We hope this brought more clarity on VPN and how it works.

If you think saving money for your business using VPN is something you wish to do, reach out to us. Consultations are free.

Thank you for reading…Cinco Amor Team