How do I speed up remote file access thorugh a VPN?

Question

I want to make it easier for outside employees to use files on our corp. server. However, they complain that access is to slow (to access modify and save files-Excel sheets for example). Out IT guy says it is what it is due to accessing files across the internet, These files are not that big, say 400k-1MB. Is there a good way to speed up access to these files? I have seen some software add ons (Laplink) that claim to accelerate access up to 5x. Something like this work?

Answer 1

The effective bandwidth you'll get on your VPN connections will be limited by the maximum available bandwidth on the slowest leg of the link. Most of the time that's the remote end where broadband speeds tend to be asynchronous. For example if a road warrior is on a DSL circuit with 1024k down and 128k up, the bandwidth of the VPN tunnel will be 128k at most.That will result in pretty horrific performance even with file sizes that small.



Most users are accustomed to modern LAN speeds of 100 mbps or even gigabit and when stuck out on a slow VPN tunnel there will be complaints. They expect to double click on a file and see it open instantaneously. That's just not gonna happen!



Unless the remote users can get faster broadband connections they may just have to learn to live with it. That said, be sure that the limitation isn't on your end. Ideally your users should be connecting to a dedicated VPN device with it's own dedicated Internet connection and sufficient bandwidth to meet concurrent user needs. If they are connecting to a device on your main Internet connection they will be sharing bandwidth with all internal Internet users, your mail server, the spammers trying to hit your mail server, and each other. That can lead to periods of relatively pitiful performance.



Another possible solution would be to set up a terminal server for remote users to connect to. The modern implementation of Microsoft's terminal services is extremely efficient as only deltas are transferred, not complete screen redraws. As a result, running a normal spreadsheet or word processing won't eat up a lot of bandwidth. 128k may be very usable compared to accessing the files remotely. This also has the benefit of keeping critical company information entirely in-house. If a road warrior's laptop is stolen or lost, there won't be any company data on it that could be compromised as it's all on the servers back at the office. The reduced exposure of your confidential data to the outside world and the increased productivity of your road warriors should easily offset the costs of setting up a terminal server

Answer 2

VPN's in a good environment should not be that slow.



What sort of Internet connection does your office have (DSL, Cable, T1, T3, etc.)? The DSL at one of our satellite offices is 6Mbit. The 6Mbit is download and our upload is only 768k. Your "roadwarriors" will be utilizing your connection's upload most of the time. For this reason we had to install a T1 for optimal VPN usage.



Another option would be to utilize a Terminal Server. You can setup a Terminal Server at your office, have your roadwarriors VPN into your network and remote desktop to the terminal server. Their file access will be the same as if they were directly connected into your LAN. It makes things much easier and faster. If you have an extra server (or decent PC) siting around, install Windows Server on it and install the Terminal Server (it's built-in with Windows Server, but it's a 180-day evaluation). Test it out for 180 days and see if it's worthy to purchase. There are plenty of guides on how to set it up and if you get lost you can always ask a question on here.



Hope this helps



**EDIT: Wow the second poster did an excellent job of taking what I've said and re-writing it lol...**

Answer 3

Speed Up Vpn