VPN Vs Dial up

I am due to set up remote access for a client who has a
server at the office on adsl, and wants to collect email
whilst elsewhere in the country. It has been suggested to
keep things simple to use the same email account on both
server and laptop, just leaving a copy of the message on
the server for double collection. BUT, he also wishes to
syncronise documents with the office periodically, so i
think VPN would be a better solution. Tunnelling to the
server at the office is where i get stuck, as he will
need to connect through a router at the office protecting
the server, that will auto disconnect and reconnect every
2 hours. what is the best way to enable all we want to
do, a static ip address is not practical.If the server is
online, how does one configure the vpn to access the
remote server at the office, and how would you cause the
office to become active if it is offline at the time you
want to connect to it?????

Firstly, just leave the ADSL line connected. Why would
you have it disconnecting. Don't you pay a fixed monthly
rate.

Secondly, in your case you would need to know exactly
when the server is online before you could connect.


>-----Original Message-----
>I am due to set up remote access for a client who has a
>server at the office on adsl, and wants to collect email
>whilst elsewhere in the country. It has been suggested
to
>keep things simple to use the same email account on both
>server and laptop, just leaving a copy of the message on
>the server for double collection. BUT, he also wishes to
>syncronise documents with the office periodically, so i
>think VPN would be a better solution. Tunnelling to the
>server at the office is where i get stuck, as he will
>need to connect through a router at the office
protecting
>the server, that will auto disconnect and reconnect
every
>2 hours. what is the best way to enable all we want to
>do, a static ip address is not practical.If the server
is
>online, how does one configure the vpn to access the
>remote server at the office, and how would you cause the
>office to become active if it is offline at the time you
>want to connect to it?????
>.
>