Question
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Topic
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VPN Connectivity
LockedGreetings, I am currently administering a network for a small business. I am not an IT engineer (this responsibility kind of fell on my lap, along with a host of other responsibilities :)). I have been asked to setup a VPN for the purpose of allowing one of our software vendors access into a server that hosts their application. They need to VPN (PPTP) for the purpose of applying updates and maintenance to their application (which runs off a SQL database). Can anyone please advise as to the different options I have to setup this VPN? Below is our current network configuration.
I currently have 4 servers that are all Windows 2003 Server: 1) Domain Controller, 2) Exchange Server, 3)File/Print/Sharepoint Server, 4) Application specific server for our freight department. The vendor needs access to the application server that our freight department utilizes. I have a DSL connection running into a Netgear Wireless Router. The Netgear wireless router connects to a foundry switch to provide connectivity to the servers and other users. Note: users connect through wired ports and/or wirelessly via the Netgear wireless rouer.
I have attempted to enable Routing and Remote Access on the application server, but it tanks out on me when I attempt to connect to the public ip. The netgear wireless router has been configured with the static public ip, and performs all the port forwarding. I enabled PPTP (1723) on the netgear wireless router and verified that the model can perform VPN pass-through, but it fails to connect. Our ISP created a reverse record for our static ip as mail.domainname.com. Is it possible that this causes the VPN to fail? My thinking is that when one inputted the public IP, it would hit the router and the router would forward the appropriate request (as long as port forwarding was properly configured).
I also have a pix501 available, but would need to configure it from ground zero (I performed a password reset following instructions from Cisco?s website). Would it be best to troubleshoot and leave the pix out of the picture, or should I add the pix to the network? Any help/tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you need more information to help identify a solution and/or problem. Thank you very much.
