Perform a Test Deployment in Your Lab
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
By reading the design sections earlier in this chapter, you can develop a good idea about which remote site connectivity features are appropriate for your organization. However, before you deploy any technology in your production network, it is a good practice to perform a test deployment in a lab first. Testing in a lab familiarizes you with how the technology works and gives you the opportunity to experiment with different features when alternatives are available.
When testing how to deploy a remote site connection, evaluate the following key issues in a lab setting before deciding how to deploy the technology in your production environment:
Whether to deploy a dial-up connection, a PPTP VPN, or an L2TP/IPSec VPN.
Whether to deploy an on-demand connection or a persistent connection.
Whether to deploy a one-way initiated connection or a two-way initiated connection.
If you plan to deploy a VPN connection, what type of perimeter network you want to use.
Whether to use certificate-based EAP-TLS or password-based MS-CHAP v2 for user-level authentication.
If you plan to deploy an L2TP/IPSec VPN connection (the only connection type that offers computer-level authentication), whether to use computer certificates or preshared keys.
Whether the encryption method, such as a dial-up or PPTP VPN connection using MPPE encryption or an L2TP/IPSec VPN using IPSec for encryption, influences your decision about which connection type to use.
Whether to use an Active Directory account (and join your routers to the Active Directory domain) or use a local account for your router user accounts.
Which dial-up options to set in the router user account.
Whether to use a default remote access policy, a common policy, or a custom policy.
Which static IP addresses and which static routes are needed.
Which routing protocol or protocols are needed.
Whether your demand-dial routers will support Internet traffic.
Whether to enable multicast connectivity between your sites.
Whether to deploy a DHCP server in each site.
Whether to deploy a domain controller in each site.
For a tool to assist you in evaluating some of the remote connectivity features presented in this list, see "Example: Contoso Connects Remote Sites" (DNSREM_1.doc) on the Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit companion CD (or see "Example: Contoso Connects Remote Sites" on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit). This job aid shows you how to deploy a PPTP VPN and a dial-up connection in a lab environment.
For additional test lab deployment examples, including information about deployments that include certificates and L2TP/VPN connections, see "Routing Scenarios" and "Virtual Private Network Implementation Examples" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.