VPNs and VLANs

[manic111]

Hi,

I've been asked at work (we're a small company who's always kind of winged it with IT) to look into possible improvements to the way we're doing things.

We have two offices - one in the UK, and one abroad - and use a fairly basic FTP system to share files on a server between them. I'd like to look into a better way of doing this, allowing everyone in the organisation to access company files as if they were part of their local network.

Is a VLAN the best way of doing this, and how easy is it to set one up? Are there any decent managed services for this? In order to create a VLAN, do you need a VPN, or can they exist separately? I'm not sure we need a VPN at present, but a VLAN would be helpful.

Is another option to have servers in each office, and to somehow ensure that they sync every time a file on one of them is altered?

Thanks - any advice would be appreciated!

 

[moss]

You don't need a VLAN although it could be used for security, a VPN could join the sites but make sure the IP addressing doesn't clash if you're planning on using the existing IP addressing schemes at each site.

edit:
As for setting up VPN connections, it really depends on your hardware/connections between both sites.

 

[PistolPete]

I think you are getting your VPN and VLANs confused.
The most common use of a VLAN is it logically separate a physical network whereas a VPN will join physically separated networks into a logical network.

Sound like you need a VPN first and foremost to join the two networks together. I wouldn't bother with a VLAN as the 2 network are not physically joined so simply subnet them.
As Moss says, you may need to think about IP address ranges if you VPN and it does depend on the hardware you have on how to implement it.

 

[Deception]

As above, its the VPN you need to connect WANS together. Can I ask which routers are used for each side? This will give is a good idea on how to set it up, if they're not Cisco based ones.