Virtual Private Networks

Requirement: Today's fast-changing business environment demands network connectivity between everyone in the company, even if they are located in remote offices. Using the Internet rather than dedicated private lines or frame relay offers significant cost savings but risks information being read by unauthorized people in the middle. The most common solution to this problem is to implement a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between remote locations to provide secure, private communications between each location, using inexpensive Internet links to connect them.

VPN Definition: An encrypted or encapsulated communication process that transfers data from one point to another point securely. The security of that data is assured by robust encryption technology even though the data passes through an open, unsecured, routed network.

Solution: Msen has selected NetScreen as the best technology to offer our customers. These hardware products use Ethernet connections, making them router independent. This allows a remote office to start with an ISDN line, upgrade to DSL and later a T1 without changing VPN hardware. Telecommuters, very small offices and travelers can use an inexpensive software-only solution on a single machine which is ISP independent.

VPN design: Msen will work with you to solve your VPN needs, be they local, nationwide or international. We can design a VPN solution customized to your company's needs, configure the hardware to work at each location and either install it on-site or assist your technicians with doing a remote install. Available products:

Software solution enabling client-initiated VPN connections from a single Windows 95/98/NT/Me/2K machine. Ideal for travelers, telecommuters or very small offices.

Hardware solution using 10baseT Ethernet connections and designed to support small work-groups of up to 10 users. Optimized for remote offices and telecommuters on broadband networks.

Hardware solution that can handle 4,000 simultaneous TCP connections and 100 IPSec tunnels via a 10 Mbps ethernet. The firewall is geared for a branch office or mid-sized company with a stateful inspection firewall offering access control and authentication, DoS deterrence and URL blocking.

A high-end security solution offering wire-speed performance of 100 Mbps while handling 128,000 simultaneous TCP connections and 1,000 IPSec tunnels with line-rate Triple DES throughput. The appliance takes up a mere 1U of rack space. For environments where high availability is critical, two devices may be used to provide fail-over functionality.

Account requirements: Each location that offers services (e.g. file servers and printers) will require a static IP address. Remote offices acting as clients may use a dynamic IP address.

Cost: Fully configured VPN hardware and software including firewalling for a small office start at under $1,000.00.