VPN Use-Cases--Need help!

[ratzofftoya]

Hi there,

Accidentally posted this in off-topic, now trying my luck in this forum.

From what I have gathered, there are two basic use-cases for OpenVPN. First is to install it on top of a Transmission or SAB jail or what have you in order for those services to connect through an outside VPN like privateinternetaccess for anonymous downloading. An example for how to do that would be this guide: https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-a-jail-so-it-only-connects-to-the-vpn.18669/

Second is to use OpenVPN in its own jail to connect to your network remotely so you can manage files, plugins, etc. An example is described in this guide: https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-6-with-access-to-remote-hosts-via-nat.22873/

My questions are:
a.)Is this an accurate understanding of OpenVPN's uses?
b.)If I want to accomplish these two things (1.)anonymous downloading for certain plugins, without routing all of my network traffic through a VPN and 2.)remote access to my network and FreeNAS plugins), is OpenVPN my best solution?; and
c.)Are these two guides the best resource for how to do this, meaning that I will be installing OpenVPN twice, essentially?

Thanks!

 

[Rilo Ravestein]

a.) yes
b.) probably, i don't know all alternatives, but OpenVPN seems like the best way to go, lots of experience here
c.) good question, but i think yes. You could also consider setting up VPN on separate hardware, pfsense for example, to accomplish both. You could also use the first guide (for torrenting) and have a separate device (i use a raspberry pi) to connect to your whole home network over VPN. This is what i do (for now).