SSL VPN

In the third quarter of 2006, Gartner stated the following: "By 2008, SSL VPNs will be the primary remote-access method for more than two-thirds of business teleworking employees, more than three-quarters of contractors and more than 90% of casual employee access (0.8 probability)." SSL VPN's have changed the face of VPN access today. By eliminating complex client configuration and adding the ability of granular access control, SSL VPN's can be setup quickly and administered with ease.

Various software and hardware solutions are available with some solutions even integrating with firewalls. Because of the granular access control mechanisms available with SSL VPN's, they can be utilised to not only give employees working remotely access to internal resources but access to very specific resources can also be given to contractors, partners and other semi-trusted parties, make the solution extremely cost effective.

IPSec VPN

Despite the advances made with SSL VPN technology, IPSEC VPNs still have a place in the network today. Site to site VPNs and other configurations which are static and do not require user intervention are ideal for IPSEC VPNs. Most firewall solutions have this technology built in which makes setting up country wide networks less expensive.