Hello Family! I call you family because i think that WE (the computer freaks) are very close together and make a very strong and interesting team! Let's go straight to the point. Right now i have a LAN network in Location A with a Novell Server and a Windows 2000 Server.W2K Server is the PDC. The bussiness administration took the decision that the Accounting Dept. has to go to some "Location B" (branch office) that is at a distance of about 2 kilometers from Location A (L.A) but we have to consider the other scenario that evolves the branch office with the NEW headquarters building that will be about 100 Kilometers away from the branch (this will be accomplished in 1 year) therefore we have to consider that too! So, i want you guys to say your opinion on how do i have to do this connection....which way and the cost on every way. PS : The branch office employees work 8 hours a day (whole day it is) online to the novell server in a dos application and will be doing that too in win2000 server at two or three months! Thank you very much in advance.... I hope we will enjoy this one! U l t r a X m o d E ®

I would put in DSL/Cable modem on each end and setup a VPN to connect them together......(I would use Ipsec 3des) a network to network connection and you can do this for almost free using Linux FreeSWan.. Are you going to be using IPX ? is so then maybe PPTP would be better as it supports PPP encap as IPSec is layer 3 VPN. www.findvpn.com

Need a little more info, primarily HOW many people are in the Accounting Deptment going to be using this connection. Were VPN using DSL and/or cable is fine in some instances isn't good in ALL instances. I.e. If you have a lot of employees that will be transversing the connection ADSL and cable modem wouldn't service your needs because where the download speeds are find the upload speeds (generally about 256k or less - on a very very good day) will "bottle neck" you. Most of the accounting departments I know upload info to HQ (billing, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, yada yada yada). If your a large corporation, in that case, you would do better with a Point-to-Point T1 (or better) connection. The cost of such a connection varies from area to area, generally from about US $450 to US $1,000 depending on what type of options you get with it. When I speak of options you have the options of not only using it for data, but for voice as well. The trade off now being that your are removing you long distant voice bills for a flat rate connection for both your voice and data needs. If you do go VPN over dsl/cable, don't go cheap and use freeware, use a enterprise grade VPN device, like Nokia with Checkpoint, or Cisco, or another premier security brand. They come with not only strong VPN capabilities, but firewall as well, and some come with bandwidth management features. There's a reason major companies don't use freeware or shareware in their networks. You get what you pay for! D

You don't need all of that, I setup many many VPN's with DSL/Cable modems and they all work great. There are 1000's of companies who use FreeS/Wan and FreeBSD for there VPN gatways and they work just fine and it's FREE. many of those vendors including Microsoft use Linux/Unix as a basees for there OS's Everything is based on the UNIX OS.

You Might NEED all that...I can list off 1000s companies that dont use freeware crap in their network. Starting with the Fortune 500. What ever some one uses is their choice. All I'm saying is YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. D

Another thing to consider when setting up a WAN is that if you use VPN with a DSL/cable modem, make sure the ISP allows VPN through their connection. Comcast for one does not allow VPN and will cancel an account for using too much bandwidth.

Thank you very much guys!