VPN/Firewall recommendation

[Stephen Hope]

The Q i would ask first with this is - what will the comms
model you use be?

You ask about VPN, but this is not normally used over F/Relay.

You should only need a firewall at every site for specific
reasons:

1. Paranoia (or security policy etc)
2. Local Internet access (access to Internet, VPN dial in).
3. RAS

Often, the implication of an office with "just" execs, is that
the traffic requirements are simple, and there is no "heavy"
use of networking - this may not apply in your case.

If you dont do any of these, you only need a router.

You can get suitable routers from various vendors (cisco is
normally the default choice, but others such as Nortel exist),
or you can buy an "outsource" style Frame service, which includes
the routers, and remote management etc.

One thing we are seeing a lot of interest in recently is combining
voice and data for small offices - not necessarily for the WAN links
(although that can be an efficient way to reduce cost), but to
allow a single remote site box to give a small PBX, a router,
voicemail etc. Nicest one i have seen is the Nortel Enterprise Edge,
but there are others, such as Lucent Network Alchemy.

As a bonus, a lot of these devices support firewall, VPN etc, but
you may not need that.

Stephen

Stephen Hope C. Eng, Network Consultant, shope at datarange.co.uk,
Datarange Communications PLC, part of Energis, WWW:
http://www.datarange.co.uk
Carrington Business Park, Carrington, Manchester , UK. M31 4ZU
Tel: +44 (0)161 776 4190 Mob: +44 (0)7767 256 180 Fax: +44 (0)161 776
4189


> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Bovee [mailto:david.bovee at WATCHGUARD.COM]
> Sent: Monday, June 12, 2000 11:15 PM
> To: VPN at SECURITYFOCUS.COM
> Subject: Re: VPN/Firewall recommendation
>
>
> Actually, WatchGuard does have a solution for small offices,
> the WG SOHO.
> This box can be licensed for 10-, 25-, or 50-user.  Check it out at:
>
> General info:
> http://www.watchguard.com/
>
> Special offering for SOHO box with a VPN:
> http://www.watchguard.com/products/announce.html
>
> Specific product information:
> http://www.watchguard.com/products/soho.html
>
> Also, just in case you were wondering, the WG SOHO and WG Firebox were
> designed to VPN together...there is also a VPN Manager that
> allows you to
> visualize the VPN's running on the boxes under
> management--simple, remote
> monitoring.
>
> -David
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jeff Walzer [mailto:jwalzer at STORMSYSTEMS.COM]
> > Sent: Monday, June 12, 2000 2:13 PM
> > To: VPN at SECURITYFOCUS.COM
> > Subject: VPN/Firewall recommendation
> >
> >
> > I just come into a situation in which we will all of the sudden have
> > multiple offices throughout the US. A majority of these
> > offices will have 10
> > users or less because they will be executives. Our office is
> > currently using
> > the Watchguard Firebox II as our firewall/VPN solution. The
> > problem is that
> > Watchguard does not offer any solutions for smaller offices. We will
> > probably install a frame relay network between offices for
> > security and
> > performance reasons (too many problems with DSL and cable
> > modems for the
> > time being).
> >
> > The question I have is there any vendor that covers a small
> > office of 10 or
> > less people to a large office that may have close to 100
> > users with their
> > products? Specifically looking for a product that combines
> > firewall and VPN
> > capability unless there is reason to separate the two.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jeff Walzer
> >
> > VPN is sponsored by SecurityFocus.COM
> >
>
> VPN is sponsored by SecurityFocus.COM
>

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