When you ask yourself the question, "How do I create a VPN?", there are many ways to answer it. There are a lot of possibilities and configurations to set one up, and you need to make a lot of decisions before you do so. Some of the configurations are simple, while some are more complex.

All of them are going to require thought about what you surmise your current and future business needs are going to be. Fortunately, when you first ask yourself the question as to how you should create your VPN, you won't have any wrong answers. You'll only need to figure out what's most constructive for you depending on the goals you want to achieve.

If you doubt what you should do right now, start small and then grow as you need to. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily, because VPN technology can be easily expanded at minimum expense when you compare it to the older point-to-point or dedicated lines that were involved in traditional wide area networks, or WANs.

When you're trying to figure out how to create a VPN, first ask yourself why you need one. What do you need to share, and with whom do you need to share? Where are these people located, how often will they access your server, and will this need to be reciprocated so that you need to access theirs as well?

Will this need to be independent of the main location? Perhaps the first thing to do is to sketch out a diagram so that you can figure out what you want on paper first. Begin with your main computer, server or network. This is where the information is stored that will need to be accessed by remote servers.

It could be a local area network or just one computer, for example. Add other locations, clients or users, or networks, and then draw arrows to indicate which of these clients or users need to share data.

A VPN runs via a public access area that is usually on the Internet, so think about other locations and how they connect to the Internet currently. You may or may not need to change this when you create your VPN. Will you want people who telecommute for you to have access? Will you need to have employees who are traveling access the network? These are all questions that need to be answered.

Once you've clearly defined your data sharing needs, you can look at the different types of security and access available for VPNs. You'll need to consider what speed you want, level of security, and the flexibility of your setup, in case you need to make changes in the future. You'll also need to consider the how well your existing hardware and software applications can communicate with each other.

Are they compatible? If not, you'll need to make some changes, and you need to figure out what those are. Make an inventory of your existing hardware at each location and provide information as to how software applications such as authentication programs, firewalls, and the like are being used at present. Once these are installed, figure out who's going to support your virtual private network and how the users will be administered and will gain their access.

After you have this data put together, you'll need to answer the initial question: "How do I create a VPN?" The most important thing to remember here is that you want to strike a balance between functionality and ease-of-use for both yourself and other people who will be accessing the network.