Merger

[scottalanmiller]

@Dashrender said:

I'll restate Scott's comment my own way.

Do you have PCs at those branch offices that run applications locally but access resources that are at the main branch?

If yes - why? You've already told us that you have RDP - why are you using both?

RDP itself can be/is secure and doesn't require VPN for connectivity to the main location. This is the LANless design Scott it talking about. You don't need a secure local network to use RDP, because RDP itself provides it's own security, so why waste the time, energy and money on VPN if you don't need it.

Exactly. There might be great reasons why both exist, but if there are that means that there is a lot of the IT picture that we are missing here. If we have all of the info, then we have what appears to be redundant technologies. If we don't have all the info, we need it to make recommendations.

[StefUk]

@scottalanmiller said:

We could ask in another way, given that they chose a VPN to connect the offices, why is there RDP? What is the VPN not handling well that as made them feel the need to have redundant connection technologies back to the main office?

line speed at each office is slow ( less then 10Mbps ) . Rdp ( remote desktop ) solutions is used to compress the data and make the application work at the branch offices. without the rdp the apps run too slow at think client.
is that what you are asking ? everything is hosted at the main office

[hobbit666]

@StefUk said:

@scottalanmiller said:

We could ask in another way, given that they chose a VPN to connect the offices, why is there RDP? What is the VPN not handling well that as made them feel the need to have redundant connection technologies back to the main office?

line speed at each office is slow ( less then 10Mbps ) . Rdp ( remote desktop ) solutions is used to compress the data and make the application work at the branch offices. without the rdp the apps run too slow at think client.
is that what you are asking ? everything is hosted at the main office

Think what they are both trying to say is you don't need the VPN link to use RDP to the HO location. Open up the ports on the Firewall and allow access through the internet connection.

The VPN link is not required for what you are using i.e. RDP

[Dashrender]

@hobbit666 said:

@StefUk said:

@scottalanmiller said:

We could ask in another way, given that they chose a VPN to connect the offices, why is there RDP? What is the VPN not handling well that as made them feel the need to have redundant connection technologies back to the main office?

line speed at each office is slow ( less then 10Mbps ) . Rdp ( remote desktop ) solutions is used to compress the data and make the application work at the branch offices. without the rdp the apps run too slow at think client.
is that what you are asking ? everything is hosted at the main office

Think what they are both trying to say is you don't need the VPN link to use RDP to the HO location. Open up the ports on the Firewall and allow access through the internet connection.

The VPN link is not required for what you are using i.e. RDP

Though, this only applies if the assumption is that there is no local access from the branch offices, only RPD access, which hasn't been confirmed.

[StefUk]

@hobbit666 said:

@StefUk said:

@scottalanmiller said:

We could ask in another way, given that they chose a VPN to connect the offices, why is there RDP? What is the VPN not handling well that as made them feel the need to have redundant connection technologies back to the main office?

line speed at each office is slow ( less then 10Mbps ) . Rdp ( remote desktop ) solutions is used to compress the data and make the application work at the branch offices. without the rdp the apps run too slow at think client.
is that what you are asking ? everything is hosted at the main office

Think what they are both trying to say is you don't need the VPN link to use RDP to the HO location. Open up the ports on the Firewall and allow access through the internet connection.

The VPN link is not required for what you are using i.e. RDP

ok maybe we don t need it but I don t have time to create more work for me .. it works and I don t need to change it . it doesn't cost anything and I don t have a problem with this .. ?
i would like to know what i can do with the AD - exchange - LAN etc ..maybe i should post something more specific

[StefUk]

I think we are going off track ...

we are discussing why they use VPN when the VPN was never been mentioned as an issue here. Both solution works fine, we are not looking at saving money or justify expenditure I was just reaching out to understand how we can incorporate the apps of the two companies in to one without causing too much downtime.

Company A and company B are merging on to company C with company B moving to company A . How can I get the two systems to work from company A premise in a short time as possible ?

How can you merge comany A AD on to company B AD ?

Company A has an exchange company B has an exchange, when compnay B moves in to company A is there a way to make exchange from company B to talk to exchange in to company A and vice versa without migrating mailboxes to a new exchange .

is that more to the point ?

[Dashrender]

@StefUk said:

are not looking at saving money or justify expenditure I was just reaching out to understand how we can incorporate the apps

Are you merging the datacenters?

What are the applications, specifically? Sometimes different apps have different requirements, so a blanket response will be of little help.

[Dashrender]

You mentioned creating a trust between the two domains - that's a great start. This will allow you to grant permissions to everyone who needs it in either domain.

As for Exchange - why does anything need to change for today? Leave it alone.

When it's time to stand up company C, make a whole new Exchange server, on a whole new domain (love the ability to get rid of legacy stuff this way).

[StefUk]

@Dashrender said:

@StefUk said:

are not looking at saving money or justify expenditure I was just reaching out to understand how we can incorporate the apps

Are you merging the datacenters?

What are the applications, specifically? Sometimes different apps have different requirements, so a blanket response will be of little help.

both companies have a fully working infrastructure in house. In two months time company B will move in to company A. company B computers will be plugged in to company A data center ( infrastructure). at that stage, if the new merged company infrastructure ( company C ) is not ready how can i mitigate the move.

The core application are
specific legal - accounting package and document management. ( different for company a and b at the moment - the plan is to move company b to company A app)
Email - exchange ( one server for each company )
file and print server
AD
Remote desktop
SQL dictation package
a legal form package

and some other generic apps like antivirus - internet filtering etc

[scottalanmiller]

@StefUk said:

@scottalanmiller said:

We could ask in another way, given that they chose a VPN to connect the offices, why is there RDP? What is the VPN not handling well that as made them feel the need to have redundant connection technologies back to the main office?

line speed at each office is slow ( less then 10Mbps ) . Rdp ( remote desktop ) solutions is used to compress the data and make the application work at the branch offices. without the rdp the apps run too slow at think client.
is that what you are asking ? everything is hosted at the main office

Well that helps to explain why RDP is used, but it doesn't cover what the VPN is used for.

If everything is hosted in the main office and RDP is used for the apps, what does the VPN do?

Has the line speed been looked into? That's terribly slow.

[scottalanmiller]

@hobbit666 said:

@StefUk said:

@scottalanmiller said:

We could ask in another way, given that they chose a VPN to connect the offices, why is there RDP? What is the VPN not handling well that as made them feel the need to have redundant connection technologies back to the main office?

line speed at each office is slow ( less then 10Mbps ) . Rdp ( remote desktop ) solutions is used to compress the data and make the application work at the branch offices. without the rdp the apps run too slow at think client.
is that what you are asking ? everything is hosted at the main office

Think what they are both trying to say is you don't need the VPN link to use RDP to the HO location. Open up the ports on the Firewall and allow access through the internet connection.

The VPN link is not required for what you are using i.e. RDP

And if the VPN is not fast, it can slow down the RDP, as well.

[scottalanmiller]

@Dashrender said:

@hobbit666 said:

@StefUk said:

@scottalanmiller said:

We could ask in another way, given that they chose a VPN to connect the offices, why is there RDP? What is the VPN not handling well that as made them feel the need to have redundant connection technologies back to the main office?

line speed at each office is slow ( less then 10Mbps ) . Rdp ( remote desktop ) solutions is used to compress the data and make the application work at the branch offices. without the rdp the apps run too slow at think client.
is that what you are asking ? everything is hosted at the main office

Think what they are both trying to say is you don't need the VPN link to use RDP to the HO location. Open up the ports on the Firewall and allow access through the internet connection.

The VPN link is not required for what you are using i.e. RDP

Though, this only applies if the assumption is that there is no local access from the branch offices, only RPD access, which hasn't been confirmed.

Which is what we are asking... what is the VPN for?

[scottalanmiller]

@StefUk said:

ok maybe we don t need it but I don t have time to create more work for me .. it works and I don t need to change it . it doesn't cost anything and I don t have a problem with this .. ?
i would like to know what i can do with the AD - exchange - LAN etc ..maybe i should post something more specific

Is it saving you work? That's what we are asking. You are rolling out AD to these branches, right? Why? Is there any need for it or is the AD at the branches only serving to justify the VPN(s). And how there are two different VPN infrastructures, right? So unless I am missing something, the VPN is creating more work here. So we are trying to both save you work and help the company come up with the right way to do things. How does ignoring their needs make this easier given that there two companies merging so no unified VPN infrastructure? At least the one company would have no networking back to the main office, right?

[scottalanmiller]

@StefUk said:

we are discussing why they use VPN when the VPN was never been mentioned as an issue here.

You can't just isolate things to ignore like that. It's all one holistic system. We have to understand how the system all works to be able to help. We can't just pick up one isolated function and try to determine what to do when we don't know what it is for, if it is even needed or how changes ripple through the system.

[scottalanmiller]

@StefUk said:

...I was just reaching out to understand how we can incorporate the apps of the two companies in to one without causing too much downtime.

As were we. The VPN infrastructure and AD infrastructure are part of that picture and it sounds like they are likely creating an unnecessary amount of confusion and work involved for something that might be a lot simpler if the whole thing was looked at instead of the apps in isolation.

But the VPN came up because you asked how to consolidate the apps and we were trying to determine what the apps even were.

[scottalanmiller]

@Dashrender said:

What are the applications, specifically? Sometimes different apps have different requirements, so a blanket response will be of little help.

Yes, this is the one part where no information was given. The VPN we can discuss, the apps we have no way to give recommendations, really.

[scottalanmiller]

@StefUk said:

Company A and company B are merging on to company C with company B moving to company A . How can I get the two systems to work from company A premise in a short time as possible ?

Two RDP servers, no VPN. That's the fastest, easiest, I would guess. Do you see that by asking this question you make the VPN front and center as it appears to be the only piece presenting any barriers to the situation? If the VPN isn't what you are asking about, what's the answer? Just put the two app servers in the datacenter. Easy peasy.

[scottalanmiller]

@StefUk said:

Company A has an exchange company B has an exchange, when compnay B moves in to company A is there a way to make exchange from company B to talk to exchange in to company A and vice versa without migrating mailboxes to a new exchange .

I don't understand this bit - or more I don't understand the "why" of this bit. what is the goal in merging the email systems (before fully merging them?) Email systems talk to each other natively, that's what email does. What do you specifically want these email systems to do with each other?

[scottalanmiller]

@StefUk said:

@Dashrender said:

@StefUk said:

are not looking at saving money or justify expenditure I was just reaching out to understand how we can incorporate the apps

Are you merging the datacenters?

What are the applications, specifically? Sometimes different apps have different requirements, so a blanket response will be of little help.

both companies have a fully working infrastructure in house. In two months time company B will move in to company A. company B computers will be plugged in to company A data center ( infrastructure). at that stage, if the new merged company infrastructure ( company C ) is not ready how can i mitigate the move.

The core application are
specific legal - accounting package and document management. ( different for company a and b at the moment - the plan is to move company b to company A app)
Email - exchange ( one server for each company )
file and print server
AD
Remote desktop
SQL dictation package
a legal form package

and some other generic apps like antivirus - internet filtering etc

I guess the biggest question is... what is the end goal? One single AD, one email, one application or is the goal to keep operating as two companies? I get that you might not want to jump all of the way to a fully merged company on day one, but it sounds like almost as much effort to hold off on the merging of everything but the applications themselves than to just merge it from the beginning.

Why not just make a new AD system and a new Exchange system and move everyone equally to a single, new, pristine environment designed from the ground up for the operations of the new company?

[StefUk]

@scottalanmiller said:

@StefUk said:

@Dashrender said:

@StefUk said:

are not looking at saving money or justify expenditure I was just reaching out to understand how we can incorporate the apps

Are you merging the datacenters?

What are the applications, specifically? Sometimes different apps have different requirements, so a blanket response will be of little help.

both companies have a fully working infrastructure in house. In two months time company B will move in to company A. company B computers will be plugged in to company A data center ( infrastructure). at that stage, if the new merged company infrastructure ( company C ) is not ready how can i mitigate the move.

The core application are
specific legal - accounting package and document management. ( different for company a and b at the moment - the plan is to move company b to company A app)
Email - exchange ( one server for each company )
file and print server
AD
Remote desktop
SQL dictation package
a legal form package

and some other generic apps like antivirus - internet filtering etc

I guess the biggest question is... what is the end goal? One single AD, one email, one application or is the goal to keep operating as two companies? I get that you might not want to jump all of the way to a fully merged company on day one, but it sounds like almost as much effort to hold off on the merging of everything but the applications themselves than to just merge it from the beginning.

Why not just make a new AD system and a new Exchange system and move everyone equally to a single, new, pristine environment designed from the ground up for the operations of the new company?

i think that is the most sensible way forward instead of trying to figure out a way of integrating the two ..without VPN of course