However, despite there being established standards for the necessary encryption and tunnelling protocols, smaller companies still find VPN technology complicated and expensive to deploy. We looked at the mid-range SafePipe 50, which is aimed at the larger SME and can handle up to 100 remote users and 20 LAN tunnels. The hardware itself is very neat. Everything is packed into a 1U rackmount box with an amazingly quiet cooling fan. Ethernet interfaces connect the unit to the network on one side and an Internet router on the other.
Installation is very straightforward.
All the necessary cables are included and when first started, the unit automatically switches into Service mode. Once that is done, all further setup and management is done via a browser over a secure SSL connection. Inevitably, of course, some technical knowledge is required to get the best out of the SafePipe. For example, you'll need to understand IP addresses and how they're routed, although the actual procedures are made as simple as possible. Either way, a configuration file and temporary password are created when a new VPN user is added.