How Scalable Is a Hardware VPN Solution?

Often, prospective customers ask how they can scale a hardware-based VPN solution.

Depending upon your use case and organizational security policy, scaling a hardware-based VPN can happen overnight.

Typically, enterprises fall into one of the following scenarios:

Start small and expand

Most organizations fit this profile and are typically testing new unique use cases for VPN deployments addressing stringent security requirements.

An average deployment ranges from 100 to 1,000 VPN units. Here at Archon, we’ve also worked with customers who go in the opposite direction, where they will send technology or software to our team to test with our GoSilent devices.

Scale quickly

In today’s landscape, where organizations need to rapidly deploy VPNs to support remote work en-masse, ironically a hardware solution is the fastest, easiest and most secure means of connecting. Hardware-based VPNs allow for the use of a Top Secret, CSfC or BYOD policy that still meets all of your cybersecurity policy requirements. 

This is certainly the case with Archon's GoSilent architecture, which prioritizes scale and security.

Deploying a software VPN with COTS (commercial off the shelf) devices, operating systems, and software stacks can often pose a problem when it comes to compatibility. Hardware-based VPN solutions, by contrast, are more efficient than software VPNs, and eliminate compatibility issues by requiring no software or applications to be installed on the native device.

🔎 Related Articles: Hardware VPN vs. Software VPN

Buy it pre-packaged 

VPNs can be used in many different ways, from securing the personal devices of remote workers, to securing legacy IoT devices in the field and providing members of the military with a secure method of communication as part of their tactical kits. 

In many of these cases, the hardware VPN is just one part of a larger security configuration.

At Archon, we see quite a few organizations that purchase our technology pre-packaged as part of a larger solution. For example, partners like Dell are embedding hardware technology to advance their security posture.

Long term scalability

Another common question relates to the long-term scalability of hardware VPNs -- meaning, as an organization grows, do they want to allow more users to access the solution?

The answer varies depending on the solution:

• How are end users connecting to enterprise resources?  Archon's GoSilent has two deployment methods: GoSilent Server and GoSilent Global. GoSilent Server enables organizations to access corporate networks and data via the cloud or on-premises through a virtual server, whereas GoSilent Global is a secure cloud providing anonymity and internet obfuscation on untrusted networks. 
• How many devices are connecting to your virtual server? Different virtual servers will have their own capacity limitations. In our case, each one of Archon's GoSilent Servers supports up to 300 GoSilent Cubes. Scaling simply requires adding more hardware units for those requiring internet connections.
• Ongoing maintenance and management. A key benefit of hardware-based VPNs is the low amount of ongoing management efforts and carrying costs, which pale in comparison to software VPNs.

The bottom line: hardware-based VPNs are affordable, simple to use and scale, while also minimizing the total cost of ownership.