So, indeed, VPNs can be quite useful to some Domino administrators. For some companies, typically installations with sizable user populations and administrators at every location, the value proposition for remote administration is negligible, and a VPN would be gratuitous. However, for companies with multiple sites without multiple administrators to match, a VPN might just be the thing.

Plan ahead
While there are definitely compelling reasons for some administrators to use a VPN, a final word of caution is in order. The Internet is overused. Whereas a few years ago reasonably high-speed connections could be guaranteed almost regularly over the Internet, that is no longer the case. And whether you're using a VPN or native Domino port encryption, encrypting data does nothing to increase the speed of data flow but does plenty to increase the amount of time required to transmit the data. For many companies, this may be irrelevant due to the non-urgent nature of their data flow. But for some companies, the unreliability of the Internet is a problem too big to ignore. And if you're administering a server remotely, you may be less than amused as you troubleshoot a problem in slow motion.

There are a huge number of companies providing VPN products. While Lotus has never claimed to provide a VPN infrastructure in Domino, in reality Domino contains a subset of that functionality -- a subset that may be sufficient to meet the needs of many administrators. Before picking a solution for networking Domino servers at your remote locations, determine what your needs really are, and the answer to the question "Do I need a VPN?" should become clear.

Doug Dillaman is director of consulting for Boom Vang Consulting, which specializes in Notes and Domino administration, planning, development, migration, security, and training. Boom Vang has offices in Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Illinois. He can be reached via email at doug@boomvang.com.