vpn Two PCs, one NAS and one VPN

[Fridh]

Hello everyone,

 

This is my first thread here on LinusTechTips and I hope that my experience here will be as awesome as I've hoped for!

 

Here's the thing: I'm planning on setting up a NAS for my Company. But the files must be accessible via the internet as well (in case some customer needs something while we're not at the office). I have a PC which can act as NAS (with a good read and write speed plus gigabit ethernet of course) but must solve the problem with accessing in via the internet.

 

My first thought was to host a VPN with the computer as well. But after some research, it seemed too risky due to the "bad" build-in VPN in Windows 10. I then figured, would it be a good solution to set up another PC which can act as VPN? Then I would have one PC as NAS and the other one as VPN.

 

Is this a good idea or just crazy? I so, what would you recommend? Note that the budget is very limited due to the company still being young.

 

P.S. I've chosen to use Windows 10 for the NAS to be able to sync it with the company's Google  Drive due to the need for backups.

 

Regards

[Nick Doro]

Why dont you buy a cheap mikrotik routerboard and setup simple PPTP VPN? 

[Fridh]

4 minutes ago, Nick Doro said:

Why dont you buy a cheap mikrotik routerboard and setup simple PPTP VPN? 

That's a very good question, kind sir! Would perhaps a Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gateway do the trick?

[Cyanara]

I assume by 'in case some customer needs something ' you mean a staff member will use the VPN to get it for them?

 

At any rate, SoftEther VPN is what I'm currently using.

Upsides:

• Free
• Quite powerful. Can easily punch through firewalls with the Windows client if you can't or don't want to make firewall changes.
• Relatively user friendly to set up and use even if you're new to VPNs
• All sorts of authentication options depending on your preference, including AD and certificates.
• Can be installed on your NAS, or any computer filling a server role on the network.

[Nick Doro]

i have no experience with Ubiquiti UniFi , but i know that mikrotik 450g (about 20USD) would do the trick. But using almost any router would be more safe , secure and cheaper in long term than hosting vpn server on PC.

[Meic]

I am using the Ubiquiti Edgerouter X and am very happy.

Another option is a cheap linux PC running the VPN (e.g. a Raspberry Pi http://www.pivpn.io/). Depending on hardware acceleration through, a router specifically designed for the purpose may be much more efficient.

[Fridh]

The internet speed will be 100 up and 50 down. Is this even possible to come near these speeds with a cheap solution?

[Fridh]

Hello again everyone!

 

I have decided to use one PC as a NAS and pay for PIA.

Thanks for all the help.

 

Regards