Case Study - Remote Office SSL

Background: A growing on-line retail store quickly outgrew its office space. Because this company had a T1 Internet connection, and fixed IP addresses the company's management decided that a new satellite office would be its best option for growth, leaving one or two employees at the old office to maintain the systems and moving the rest of the employees to the new location, about 20 miles away.

Problem: The company has internal software written to take phone orders, access the company's SQL database, and to perform customer service duties. Since a broadband connection over the Internet to the central office was required to access the confidential customer information, a means of securing the data was required.

Solution: Both locations installed AllegroSurf on a server with a dedicated IP address. Within AllegroSurf a TCP Mapping proxy server was created. At the satellite office the configuration was setup so it connected over the Internet using SSL to the main office. At the home office a TCP Mapping proxy server was created to accept connections from the satellite office using SSL. For added security, the main office proxy was setup to accept connections only from the satellite office's proxy server using AllegroSurf's IP address filtering.

Benefits: By using AllegroSurf no software changes were required to the company's database tools, and all data transferred between the satellite and remote office is encrypted using SSL. The company created its own VPN (Virtual Private Network) by using the powerful security features of AllegroSurf. By implementing this solution a new ISP for the company's servers was not required, and an inexpensive solution to its office space problem was found.