A former CU colleague sent me two free VPN options right before Christmas.
The first message described a client and server tool using 256-bit AES. The next one was even shorter: had I seen OpenVPN? Version 2.0 had been out since April.
That was enough for a systems-person email in 2005. Find a tool. Check the basic security. Send the link to somebody who might build it in a lab.
Remote access mattered at SimAuthor and for Praxis. I needed secure paths into Windows and Linux systems without leaving administrative services hanging open on the internet. A month earlier, the network I used in Italy had blocked my normal VPN, SSH, remote desktop, and dial-out paths. A different VPN would not automatically beat that kind of filtering, but the failure kept remote access near the top of the list.
The messages do not say that I installed either product. They do not prove when I first put OpenVPN into production. A saved link is an evaluation, not a deployment.
They do show what was on the workbench that week: two free VPN tools, a few security links, and some Unix utilities from somebody whose judgment I trusted.
Merry Christmas. Here is more software to test.
The same run of mail had links to security research and Unix tools. There was no purchasing process or product deck. Somebody I knew from CU found software that might help, checked enough to make it interesting, and forwarded it.
I saved the messages because both products were worth a look. They stop before the lab build, configuration, or decision. OpenVPN was on my radar by December 23. That does not make it the day I chose it.