My brother has just moved back home to the Philippines and is shopping around for a desktop.
I’d like to be able to print off things from his down there while I am sitting here in Taipei. I’d also like us to easily transfer files onto one another’s hard disks.
Sounds like a WAN kind of situation, doesn’t it?
For work, I can connect to a network from most wireless nets in Taipei and establish a VPN connection (http://www.answers.com/vpn). This allows me to access the office HDs and printers, as well as our Intranet site.
Do I need to have a VPN set up to share resources (printers, hard disks) with my brother in the Philippines?
[quote=“Goose Egg”]My brother has just moved back home to the Philippines and is shopping around for a desktop.
I’d like to be able to print off things from his down there while I am sitting here in Taipei. I’d also like us to easily transfer files onto one another’s hard disks.
Sounds like a WAN kind of situation, doesn’t it?
For work, I can connect to a network from most wireless nets in Taipei and establish a VPN connection (http://www.answers.com/vpn). This allows me to access the office HDs and printers, as well as our Intranet site.
Do I need to have a VPN set up to share resources (printers, hard disks) with my brother in the Philippines?
We are both comfortable Win XP users - so we wouldn’t be setting up any linux boxes or such.[/quote]
Yes you do need a VPN.
Alternatively you could use www.logmein.com which is free to take control of his computer and print things. The premium version allows you to print things straight from his computer to your printer.
You may also use www.foldershare.com to share specific folder files for free. After the files are synced with those on your computer, could just then print them out locally.
I use both to offer technical assistance here in the US.
the easiest thing is site to site VPN with your home routers. You have to do no work, just route the proper subnets after they’re setup. Idealy, you’d setup the network so when you’re at home all you do is plug in; the network hardware would take care of everything.
I like real VPN hardware. NetScreen, still #1 in security I believe for the past several years, has routers starting at $500 US. Well worth it.
When things are setup the right way, VPN is seamless; you don’t even know it’s there.
I have 2 locations, each with its own DSL connection to the Internet. There is a DSL modem on each end, and there will also be a WiFi hub connected to each DSL modem
For US$ 500 bucks a pop, I add a NetScreen VPN Device to each modem:
2 devices so that each side can use the other side’s resources. If I had only one device - say, in Manila - then I could connect in (something like I already do at my day job here in Taiwan), but Manila could not reach me.
Where can I get my hands on a VPN Device in Taipei?
Btw, this link might be helpful to those who want to learn more: vpnlabs.org/
and then setup things so you could just connect as if it’s part of the same network. anytime you tried to connect to
\server_at_other_location
it’d work just as if it’s right in the same office. A real virtual network. slower but no more difficult to connect…
if want wins resolution, DNS, multicast forwarding, or anything, you can do…
you could get cheaper VPN devices. I think you can get some for around $300-400 US. Maybe less. But NetScreen is my favorite. There’s a reason why they’ve become #1 in the past few years.
VPN IPSec is secure. Whenever I setup VPN, I’ll do the same (I shouldn’t have sold my NetScreen). and eventually I’d make it super secure by adding RSA SecurID. Any real company that wants to be secure will use two-factor authentication; one factor (just a login and password) isn’t enough.
Two factor I’d use if you allow VPN connections in from any location. if you’re just letting in from Manila to taipei, and vice versa, you can get static IPs and say only those two places can VPN together…
Hmm. maybe you can do certificates. Then you can VPN in from anywhere, but only with a particular notebook with the certificate.
you don’t really need VPN or VPN with two-factor authentication for what you want. but you do want to be secure?
hmm…
could setup a web-based file/document/knowledge management system with SSL for just files… for printing, if you don’t mind the insecurity, you can do without VPN.
I’ve been looking into Software Change Management systems. SCM. Perforce is the “best in the world.” I think so. It’s free for two users. While it’s meant mainly for source code, and change management. you could use it for any ol’ file. integrates with many things like office and explorer. Imagine just selecting check in/check out/get latest/add from within explorer; it does everything for you…
Now you’re really starting to lose me This SCM is primarily for sharing files securely, right?
My main interest for this project is to share printers. Sharing files – specifically large-sized graphics files – is the secondary objective.
It seems to me from what you are saying, if I want to print on from my notebook on the Internet to the printer in Manila that is connected to a computer (which is connected to the Internet via DSL), then I do NOT need to use a VPN. Does this bring me back to ShrimpCracker’s LogMeIn.com solution?
And if I want to transfer large blocks of files (say 50 to 100MB worth at a time) on a regular basis - say 5 to 10 times a week - then I should be looking into an SCM kind of solution?
sorry… was just rambling. SCM is for managing programmer’s source code. Could be used for normal files too…
To share files, you could:
used web-based content management
use remote control software like logmein.com, netop, or pcanywhere
maybe other things i’m not thinking of now.
can probably print with all those remote control systems too.
for graphics, an option is an asset management system. companies that need to share and manage graphic assets might use something like canto cumulus, extensis portfolio server, or even something more comprehensive and expensive. recommended under VPN.
but if it’s just from one place in taipei to one place in manilla, you could get by through some sort of tunneling where all traffic is sent through a secure tunnel…or just port forward with your routers and don’t worry about security.
there are probably other options, i’m not thinking of everything possible now…
for ease of use and highest security, I’d recommend site to site VPN. make both networks seem like one. any other software on top of that would just make sharing easier. Me, I like things as seamless and secure as possible.
Goose Egg, have a look at DrayTek’s products (from Taiwan), most of them have an integrated VPN server. Your brother could buy one of these routers with integrated dsl modem, wireless access point and printserver and this would be the only device he (and you) would need. In this scenario, you should even be able to use his printer without his PC running. Draytek Homepage (Taiwan) VPN guide from Draytek (with nice pictures)
This SCM is primarily for sharing files securely, right?