The Situation: I have two offices, one in San Diego and one in Las Vegas.
The Problem/Goal: Get the two offices connected together in a way that resembles a LAN. Basically if you're in the Las Vegas and use a network program such as Timeslips, you can run the program from SD without ever realizing the server is about 400 miles away. Also so that the IT person can manage the users like they are all in one local network. And, since the server in San Diego has mapped network drives to store globally accessable documents, have the employees in Las Vegas save to the network drive just like it was on the local network.
The Proposed Solution: Get two VPN/Firewalls and place one in each office. Set up those VPN/Firewalls so that whenever a user logs into the local area network, they can also communicate with the local area network in the other office as well.
What I need to know: What kind of internet connection does this require (if sending small files such as documents and slips from Timeslips)? Is the setup too complicated for a DIY project? The pros/cons? And other solutions that can resolve this problem.
You'll need a static address on each end, and it will be helpful to have someone at the toher end when you're trying to go live, so you can test and adjust as necessary. On some models, it's as simple as giving them each the other's static address and a shared "secret" (password/encryption key).
You'll avoid some problems if your private ranges at the locations don't overlap. You may find it helps to have a WINS server at each site, configured to synchronize with each other.