Secure connection (SSH, VPN et al)

[JohnGee]

I am looking for ways to securely connect to our company databases from outside the firewall. The remote users do not have fixed IP addresses, so IP number based filtering at the firewall is not useful. In any case I would be happier knowing the password and data are encrypted.

Is anyone connecting to FileMaker securely over TCP/IP? What are you using?

My first try was tunneling TCP/IP over a Secure Shell connection (using MacSSH). This almost works, I can contact the FileMaker Server through the firewall but can not see any of the databases. My guess from browsing the FileMaker Knowledge Base is that FileMaker Pro 5 is using UDP to obtain the list of databases, and only the TCP packets are being tunneled over SSH.

I have read a little about Virtual Private Networks, and they look like a probable solution although there is likely to be money involved!

Any suggestion or pointers are welcome,

John