Need help in setting up office network

[umar420e]

hey guys,
I am setting up network for an office which has 2 branches. I want connect 2 offices on with each other, so that the web application which I have installed on the 2 branches could exchange data with each other. can anyone suggest a best way to do this. security is no the big issue but desirable and also the cost should be less as it is a charitable organisation. thanks in advance

[Rubberman]

Assuming that both offices have a decent Internet connection, then what you need to do is to set up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) between the offices. Then, getting data between applications and systems from one site to the other is simple - they become local peers. There are open source VPN tools (OpenVPN) that run on most systems, including Linux, that will help facilitate this activity. VPN connections typically are encrypted with some advanced cryptography algorithm, such as AES.

[khildin]

As suggested, go for a site to site VPN based on OpenVPN. There are 'dedicated' distro's like untangle and Zeroshell If you could use a more complete SMB server with a good firewall and VPN sollution, easy to install and configure, you definately want to use Zentyal linux small business server.

keep us posted how you are going to solve your problem.

regards,
Rob

/edit: security ALWAYS is a big issue! You don't want your business data gets compromised. (<--- PERIOD!)

[Mudgen]

And even if your data is well protected on the servers and you're using encrypted client-server communications, someone who can breach your network security can do things that appear to be done by your organization, and degrade or destroy your reputation.

[eionmac]

" security is no the big issue but desirable and also the cost should be less as it is a charitable organisation. thanks in advance"
In charitable organisations volunteers change regularly, so you need secure log on passwords that are changed at some interval, monthly is ok, as it means that a physical entry to computer by a person having left but disclosing password does not get into your data.