Having a vpn connection back to an office is an essential standard of operation. The ability to connect to network resources remotely was a wonderful convenience when the technology first reached popular levels, but now, not having is debilitating to employees and denies them the same advantages commonly available at other companies. A vpn capability allows workers to spend additional time on company matters, as well as greater freedom to work from locations that are more to their liking, such as the ability to work from home.
VPN technology is set up using a computer that is running a special vpn service, or by a firewall appliance that has vpn capability. Either configuration requires an IP address that is valid on the open internet. In a set up using a firewall for vpn, it will redirect incoming vpn traffic and requests to its internally served connection. A server with vpn loaded as a program would have to be in a service net that has external facing connectivity with the ability to access resources inside the network using firewall rules allowing it to do so.
The creation of a vpn connection requires a client application that speaks the protocols of the server. This is built in to the computer, but the one that ships with the system does not work universally with all server devices. The brand of the device you are connecting to will provide a client to you that needs to be installed on end computers should a special client be needed to interface with their application. The end result is the same, a secure tunnel that carries traffic in a safe manner from your computer to inside your company network, allowing connectivity that mimics that of being plugged in directly at the office. In this manner, work can be performed with all the capabilities you have being at the office from any location, be it home or your favorite coffee shop.
