OpenVPN
Today I had the joy of successfully configuring a VPN server, usually something like this can be tricky, especially when you want to do it on the cheap. i had messed around with Openvpn in different incarnations for a little while but it never quite worked how i wanted it to, then i discovered Openvpn Access Server. what is Openvpn Access Server you might ask, well it takes the power and flexibility of the open source Openvpn Platform and rolls it into a nice package that can be implement on several different platforms. my platform of choice is Ubuntu Server 9 64-bit. the beautiful thing with this piece of software is that once you have it installed on the server you never have to log into the server again, because Openvpn Access Server features a wonderfully designed Web interface where everything can be configured, and deployment is as simple as navigating to your servers ip address with the port specified during setup, and logging in with your credentials. the web interface provides the instructions to setup with windows, linux or Mac. another great thing about this software is it has the ability to configure with LDAP which allows for integration with active directory. the only catch to this software is that if you want to more than two concurrent users, you have to buy additional license, but at 5 dollars a user they really aren’t asking much. i highly recommend this to anyone who needs to connect to there workplace or home with the need to deploy rapidly, and effectively.

Visit the OpenVPN Website.

OpenSSH
another nice tool i implemented on my ubuntu server is openSSH, which allows me to securely connect to my ubuntu server from anywhere as if i were right next to the computer. i think this is a very good complement to OpenVPN since it would allow you to easily troubleshoot any server side issues remotely. it works well with putty, or from any unix terminal with an internet connection.

Visit the OpenSSH Website.