A reminder that a a VPN is a "Virtual Private Network" and when you connect to another network, you are connecting as if your machine is part of that network, and sometimes, your network is part of theirs, too. For your work environment, this might not be a threat, but I know I have clients whose work environment is not one I consider sanitary enough to connect to.
I'd suggest OpenVPN for you, Ken: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVPN
(For some of my clients, we've got a Linux box in their network, and can connect over ssh using Linux native tools or Putty on Windows, and then RDP or VNC to share screens without sharing networks. Other folks here have recommended stunnel, too.)
On Tue, Jan 10, 2017 at 2:35 PM, Ken Dibble krdibble@stny.rr.com wrote:
My consultant is proposing some species of Sophos UTM, which I can purchase as hardware only, without an ongoing subscription service, if all I want is ordinary router/firewall capability. (Subscriptions are required for various add-on functions such as anti-malware protection, a built-in VPN, and/or URL blocking, among other things.)
Does anyone have experience with Sophos devices?
Also, what would you recommend for a free (as in beer) VPN application, so I can avoid paying a subscription for that? This would only be used occasionally, to provide remote access to our VMWare management software in the event of an emergency that prevents me from physically reaching our building. (The consultant recommends against installing the vSphere client on our RDP server as dangerously insecure.) I know there are several out there. What have you used and why have you used it?
Thanks very much for all of your responses so far. They've all been useful in helping me to understand the "modern" state of routers and firewalls.
Ken Dibble www.stic-cil.org
Which software router are you looking at? Coyote? Most of the software routers I have used are no longer being supported or developed.
Nothing has been recommended by our consultants yet. I'm trying to prepare in advance.
The choices in hardware router/firewall devices are not that great. I've been using a Zyxel 1000G for a few years and it has been, mostly, reliable. I've had it get wonky and require a reboot twice in 6 years. The interface is very very different...completely object-oriented. Fortunately Zyxel provides excellent tech support, they'll even log in to your router and configure it for you if needed.
The CISCO was rock solid for quite a while. However, a couple years ago its memory failed and was replaced with a used substitute. Since then we've had to cycle the power on it about once every 2-3 months to restore connectivity.
Its web interface is horrendously byzantine in terms of its "security" features, which did not behave well in IE, and even worse in Firefox. It could take 10-15 minutes of going through various windows and resubmitting credentials before it would give up the goods and show me something.
I don't think you'll run into any throughput issues with your load on any device, or software-based system.
That's good to know.
Thanks very much, Mike.
Ken
Ken Dibble wrote:
Hi folks,
Looks like our "ancient" (2008) CISCO router has died.
I would appreciate the benefit of your experience regarding hardware vs software routers/firewalls to help me evaluate replacement options.
Our current network uses 1 GB switches and has about 150 machines, and there can be at least that many people simultaneously using the network and our 25 mbps synchronous internet connection (including people hooking into our internet from smart phones and tablets). Most servers, including the domain controller, are virtualized and we are using a SAN for storage (two identical Synology Linux NAS devices). We have a 10 GB switch for virtual server/storage connectivity.
We do not host external (internet) email or websites on our network.
We've had slow growth in the number of machines and users (+/- 5% per year) over the past decade.
We've always used the NAT functionality of the CISCO to provide a firewall and we only rarely allow anything to punch through it. The main exception would be our RDP server, which is in frequent use by between 5 and 10 simultaneous connections.
My understanding is that a software router/firewall running on an ordinary PC is likely to be slower than a dedicated hardware device. However, is the difference so significant for a network like mine as to rule out a cheaper software solution?
Do you have preferences for specific devices or software packages?
What do you all think?
Many thanks.
Ken Dibble www.stic-cil.org
[excessive quoting removed by server]