VPN is way overrated. You need to sit down and look at what your needs are. If you are running one business as your main business and you have a satellite business that needs to access the same records, then VPN with either a terminal server or some type of third party client such as Citrix is the only way to get a speedy connection. Yes VPN is encrypted and decrypted on both sides, the very thing that slows you down. With VPN files must move back and forth over the net, with programs such as RDP and the commercial ones, you are only seeing changes of the screen shots of the program on the other side.
For simple home to office work, then LogMeIn or GoToMyPC is fine. VNC such as UltraVNC will work as well. RDP is awesome. If you have SBS, then you can't beat Remote Web Workplace for security and speed.
Personally, if you have XP Pro, it already has Remote Desktop available. It connects in less than three seconds and is fairly secure. You can do Remote Desktop via a VPN, but you have the same limitations.
If you have the cash, call Citrix and get some tech help and some pricing. It is pricey, but you will get some great tech help as they want your business.
My recommendation would be this: 1) for techies and 2) for non-techies:
1. If you want help with your setup, pay the $9.95 per month and have 10,000 IT experts on your side using
www.experts-exchange.com. You could literally go on and ask, "What is the best way for me to connect to my office?" and you will get IT gurus form England to Australia posting back within minutes. You can ask question after question on RDP, VNC, VPN, LMI, etc.
2. Hire an IT consultant. I think we forget that, although they can run a bit of cash per hour, it can really be worth it rather than trying to figure it all our by yourself.
With all due respect to everyone who talks about security, AND I COMPLETELY AGREE, I think we can get obsessed with this. Remember paper charts. How many of us have a cleaning person with a key to the office? It wouldn't take long to load every chart into a truck or grab a few patient records. If you are doing a really good job with security, then it is all you can do. I mean some are using LinkSys firewalls, they could certainly be using Cisco. Some are using Cisco, they could certainly use two NIC cards and Windows 2003 server or SBS and use ISA which is far more secure than above.
