How to plan for your VPN expansion

As you consider setting up virtual private networks, remember they seem likely to become more and more essential to the way you do business.

The heads of VPN start-ups I interviewed earlier this year (www.nwfusion.com/news/1999/0614vpn.html) disagreed on what the most common initial use of VPNs would be. But they did agree that VPNs would grow enormously.

One vendor says customers are ripping out their WANs wholesale to install VPNs. At one customer company, every employee is issued a PC, and access to corporate network resources via a VPN is standard. One customer company is no longer expanding its corporate office space; it is virtualizing its sites with the help of VPNs, the vendor says.

Another vendor says customers are setting up VPNs but only to support new WAN services. They are not diving into VPNs as a sweeping new network architecture. For example, if a customer needs to set up a new WAN link to support sharing with a business partner, that link may be a VPN. But traditional frame relay or dedicated lines may stay in place to connect corporate sites.

Either way, as you start down the VPN road, it seems likely that you will never return completely. So you should consider now the migration path you want to take.

Do you want to set up your own VPN? If so you can do it with standalone VPN boxes that perform encryption and authentication as a supplement to your current WAN gear.

The other option is to get equipment that includes a WAN router, eliminating the need to manage one more box. The major router vendors are all promising to incorporate VPN capabilities into their gear, making your adoption of the technology an upgrade rather than an install of new equipment.

It may be shortsighted to buy a piece of add-on equipment that supports only a limited number of simultaneous VPN sessions. As your needs grow, that gear may become inadequate and would be tossed aside. Look for a vendor whose gear scales and guaranteed trade-ins protect your investment if you do have to upgrade.

Similarly, look to service providers to be flexible. It makes no sense to lock yourself in to a VPN service that gives you no wiggle room as you refine your VPN plans.

So keep your VPN contracts short, and make sure your provider is open to renegotiating them without penalty as your needs expand. Remember, their services are evolving just as your needs are changing. When they are able to guarantee multiple levels of service quality, for example, they will want you to buy it. And you may be interested in buying it.

But recognize that you need to maintain the power to bargain for the best deal.

The bottom line here is this: leave yourself options to expand your VPN at a moment's notice. Your VPN needs are not likely to stay static even in the short term.

Tim Greene is a senior editor at Network World, covering virtual private networking gear, remote access, core switching and local phone companies. You can reach him at tgreene@nww.com.

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