I've been asked to map out possible solutions for the following scenario.
Main office with approx. 12 staff using WS2012E server. A mixture of mainly Windows 7 Pro and small number of Windows 8 clients. The WS2012E server is used to provide authenticated logins, access to shared folders, client backup and management of the Win7 / Win8 clients via Group Policies. Main office has ADSL access to the Internet.
A branch office with approx. 6 staff using a workgroup. Only Win 7 clients. Has it's own ADSL Internet access. Staff in the branch office need to access the main office shares. Also, we would like to get some control over the Win7 clients at this branch office via Group Policies.
My questions are;
1 - Can we connect the branch office clients to the main office WS2012E server via a VPN or similar or do we need to install a separate WS2012E server in the branch office?
Note: I understand that we can connect the remote clients to the Main office WS2012E server that we would anticipate having to turn off client backup to conserve bandwidth.
2 - If able to connect the clients to the main office WS2012E server are there any major issues I need to think about (such as the possible slow response of the SMB protocol provided folder shares)?
3 - Slightly bizarre this one! Some of my research so far seems to indicate that if connecting from the branch office to the main office via a VPN that clients in the branch office would then be required access the Internet via the main office Internet link i.e. use their own Internet link to cross the VPN to the main office and then go back out again to access the Internet. Any truth in that?
Your thoughts / input would be appreciated.