Ensuring Secure Access to Your Infrastructure
Welcome back to our blog series on reducing cloud costs through a DevOps-Enabled, Automated IT Infrastructure. So far, we've discussed steps including choosing a Dedicated Managed Server provider, installing a Virtualization Hypervisor, setting up a cluster of Hypervisors, securing your data center with the OPNsense Firewall, managing user access with FreeIPA, managing your systems with Katello, and monitoring your infrastructure with Zabbix. Today, we're focusing on the eighth step – setting up an OpenVPN server
In the modern, digital world, secure access to your IT infrastructure is a top priority. Whether your employees are working in the office, remotely, or on the go, they need secure access to your data center infrastructure. OpenVPN is a solution that allows your users to securely access your IT resources, no matter where they are.
OpenVPN is an open-source VPN (Virtual Private Network) software that creates secure point-to-point or site-to-site connections in routed or bridged configurations and remote access facilities. Its compatibility with various operating systems and broad array of application integrations, stellar performance, and price tag (free!) make it a preferred choice.
It's important to set up OpenVPN to authenticate against your FreeIPA server, as discussed in Step 5. This ensures that not only can authorized users access your resources, but allows for easy user-management, providing an additional layer of security.
With a massive user community, getting support for any scenario with OpenVPN is quite simple and remains the recommended choice. While WireGuard, a new entrant with remarkable performance, dominates the media headlines these days, it lacks centralized authentication for user-management and thus we recommend it for site-to-site connections for now.
By setting up an OpenVPN server, you'll be ensuring that your users can securely access your data center infrastructure from anywhere, providing them with the flexibility they need and keeping your data secure.
In our next blog post, we'll discuss Step 9 – setting up backup servers. This step is crucial to protecting your data and ensuring business continuity in the event of data loss or system failure.
Stay tuned as we continue our step-by-step journey towards efficient cloud cost management. Remember, each step you take brings you closer to a more streamlined, cost-effective, and efficient IT infrastructure. Let's keep moving forward!