Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have become essential for companies with remote or hybrid employees who require security without impacting employee workflows and productivity. A VPN provides a secure connection between remote workers and corporate resources such as applications, databases, and other servers located in a physical data center at the company headquarters or a public cloud provider such as AWS, Azure, or Google.
However, there are situations where you may need to connect to multiple VPNs simultaneously. For instance, if you work for a company that uses a VPN for network security and you also need to connect to a vendor or customer's private network, you may need to connect to both VPNs simultaneously. We will explore four methods for connecting to multiple VPNs and private networks.
Method 1: Using Virtual Machines
A virtual machine is a software emulation of a computer system. It allows you to run multiple operating systems on a single physical machine. This way, you can use one virtual machine to connect to one VPN while using the host machine to connect to another. To use this method, you need to install virtual machine software such as
VirtualBox or VMware on your computer. Then, create a new virtual machine and install the operating system of your choice. Next, install the VPN software on the virtual machine and configure it to connect to the desired server.
Virtual machine solutions require employees to manage how they access information and will significantly decrease productivity.
Method 2: Using a VPN Client with Multi-Hop Capability
A multi-hop VPN, cascade VPN, or double VPN is a VPN connection that routes your traffic through multiple VPN servers. The solution provides an additional layer of security and privacy, as it makes it harder for anyone to trace your online activities. To use this method, you must use a VPN client offering multi-hop capability. Some popular VPN clients that support multi-hop VPNs include NordVPN, ProtonVPN, and Surfshark. Once you have installed the VPN client, you can configure it to connect to multiple VPN servers in sequence.
Multi-hop VPNs are not used in business as it creates enormous security risks.
Method 3: Using VPN Split Tunneling and an extra VPN client
Split tunneling allows some internet traffic to pass through a VPN while other traffic is directly routed to the internet. If this is implemented in a router at the employee's home, adding an extra VPN client that would connect to a secure resource would be possible.
Split tunneling is very complex to maintain, and misconfiguration could lead to sensitive data being passed down the wrong path. For this reason, this is not a practical solution for organizations.
Method 4: Use Remote.It to Connect to Many Private Networks
Remote.It is a service that allows you to access your devices and networks remotely. It provides secure and reliable connections between your devices and networks without any network configuration changes. To use Remote.It, you need to install the Remote.It client on your device, create an account, and register your devices. Once you have registered your devices, you can access them from anywhere using a web browser or the Remote.It mobile app. Companies would register corporate devices and services and share those with employees based on role.
Remote.It is unlike traditional VPN solutions because devices, services, and users can belong to an unlimited number of private networks at the same time.
This solution is used by large enterprises today because it is secure and doesn't impact employee workflows.
Conclusion
Connecting to multiple VPNs or private networks is possible with legacy tools, but the legacy tools create security risks or add enormous amounts of IT overhead to manage. These tools can be used, but we rarely see any of these appropriately deployed. Instead, organizations require their software developers to switch between VPNs to get their job done.
Using Remote.It is the only solution that provides connections to multiple private networks simultaneously. Virtual networks can be changed in real-time as needed with no limit to the number of private networks. In addition, Remote.It improves security compared to legacy VPN solutions. VPNs are tunnels to a subnet in which IT teams must manage a long list of network configuration settings such as IP address ranges, subnet collisions, route tables, VLAN tags, and more. Users gain network access to the entire subnet.
Remote.It implements zero trust access control with a private network made up of services such a web applications, databases, SSH, RDP, VNC, and more. Access is granted at the service level, which adheres to the zero trust principle of least privileged access. One last security point: Remote.It is the only remote access/VPN solution that doesn't require public IP addresses or port forwarding. There are no ports accessible for bots and malicious actors to scan.
Easier connectivity and improved security. Try Remote.It for free.
