Patent ID: 7801154

Claim:
An access system for connecting through virtual private networks to sites having a plurality of virtual private network variants, the system comprising: a provider system including a core system to establish a virtual private network connection to a site data management server through a network interface; and a physical virtual machine server in electrical communication with the provider system, the virtual machine server including a plurality of virtual machines, each virtual machine capable to establish a virtual private network tunnel connection, over a network, to a site data management server, the virtual machine server performing the method of: executing a connection script to automatically select one of a plurality of different virtual private network variants, each of the virtual private network variants having an associated protocol, wherein the selection is based on a configuration of the site data management server, configuring one of the virtual machines to establish with the site data management server, a virtual private network tunnel of a type corresponding to the selected virtual private network variant and using the associated protocol.