VPN to new site

[dave.81]

We have recently taken on a new site, they are extremely outdated tech wise and we are looking at the most cost effective way of bringing them up to speed.

 

I'm looking at the option to VPN to their site (they got a watchguard XTM330) allowing us access to their data but also allowing them access to resources we already have. Is this a feasible solution, can i run AD over this or would it to be laggy? Never touched VPN's before and looking for advice. Sites are 20 miles away from each other so no chance of cabling direct.

[MatthewL]

What type and speed internet connections do you have at each site and how many users at the remote site?

 

You could create a hardware VPN using firewalls (watchguard in their case) to create a link and then put the relevant routes in place. What firewall do you have at your site?

[dave.81]

I've now been to visit their site and know more about their setup. They have 28 computers shared between classrooms, offices and 1 IT suite, they have business fibre which tested at 38mb/3.5mb (we have 30mb leased line) while i was there. Total users is about 80 but with only 1 IT room there are rarely more than 20 logged in at any time. We have an old watchguard which i'm looking at upgrading so would match theirs to make the job simpler for all. Current server is SBS2011 i3 desktop with 8gb but this seems to be extremely slow running SQL server but i didn't get time to dig through to see what else was running on it.

 

The funds i have in place to sort out their systems is very very small so the more i can run from our site the more we'll be able to resolve, thats IF using a VPN for some services is feasible.