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I'm hoping to implement a VPN whereby about 200 concurrent users can log in to briefly access my network. I had a look at OpenVPN and this seemed excellent, but was hoping that there would be a less costly option on a per-concurrent-user basis.

I've no need for particularly strong security, and my only other requirement is that I would need to be able to add users in bulk via csv or similar.

EDIT

I will be running a FlexLM server on the machine, and the users will need to be able to download a licence key from that licence server. I was under the impression that remote users need to be on the same network as the licence server, hence the VPN. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

The pricing on OpenVPN comes from www.openvpn.net/index.php/access-server/license-key.html where it says:

License Key:

Each license key activates a specific number of OpenVPN Clients connecting to the Access Server. The free license key is designed to get you up and running and will activate (2) Clients. You can purchase additional clients for $5.00 / per client.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

masegaloeh
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Martin KS
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  • can you explain what resources these 200 temporary users need to access? You seem to have headed down a narrow path here but not really sure how you arrived at this decision; there may be an easier/less expensive option if you can provide a bit more detail. – gravyface May 10 '10 at 15:54
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    How is OpenVPN costly? It's free if you don't use their advanced management features and invest a little bit of work of your own. – Sven May 10 '10 at 15:56
  • Please can you accept the answer which solved your problem by clicking the grey tick to the left of it? – Fahad Sadah Jun 08 '10 at 21:28

6 Answers6

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The free version of OpenVPN (not Access Server) can support an unlimited number of concurrent users (if your hardware can, it goes without saying).
You can download it at http://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/downloads.html

Fahad Sadah
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You could setup an OpenVPN "appliance" using a decent workstation (P4+, 1 to 2 GB RAM) with two NICs running Linux + OpenVPN asynchronously-routed to offload the VPN encryption/decryption overhead to a separate machine.

This is fairly simple to setup using the OpenVPN documentation: you're using the routed method with a VPN-only subnet that's different than your LAN subnet (this allows you to create src/dest rules to restrict access if you like; you'll need to add a static route on your edge router so that packets destined for your VPN clients by the LAN know where to go): http://www.openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/documentation/howto.html#scope

gravyface
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You should be able to run the flexlm server on your network dmz and point the clients to the ip and port of the server. This worked in the past for remote copies of Maya for us.

speeds images
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Well, if you need only tunnelling (with no security), use l2tp or pptp.

TiFFolk
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You're wrong. Remote users DO NOT need to be on the same network as the licence server.

FlexLM will work over the open internet. You may want to firewall so there's only access from your desired clients, but they don't need to be on the same subnet or anything similar.

xenny
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How many current users can accept FreBSD, I am using it for about 30 current users, whit no any problems.

Maybe pfSenes distro can offer You faster way to implement OpenVPN or PPTP VPN

adopilot
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