setting up VPN router as a VPN server and more

[pitpushersd]

Sorry for the newb question, but I would like to use VPN a little differently than most and I’m not able to find consistent information on the best way to do this.

I have a 1 Gbps fiber-optic Internet connection from Cox (the “modem”), a Dell R710 server, and a home network using a Netgear Nighthawk X10 AD7200 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R9000).

I would like up to 100 students to be able to access the server at my home, but protect my home network. Almost all of them are running Windows 10. Because the Nighthawk router is in my family room, I cannot put the server there, but I can put the server near the modem.

I’m thinking of buying a VPN router and connecting this to the modem, the Nighthawk router, and the server, setting up a VLAN on the VPN server and having students VPN from their school into the VPN router and only access the server keeping my home network safe. As an added bonus I would also like them to be able to access the Internet from the VPN router as their school filters sites that we need access to for this class. This VPN router does not need Wi-Fi.

Once a week the students will upload a few 5 GB files, and then at other times up to 100 students will access a website on the server for hours at a time.

I’m open to spending $200 - $500 on a VPN router, and I’m very concerned regarding performance. I’m open to trying DD-WRT or anything else. I’m guessing I’ll also need to use DynDNS. I’m also open to paying for support to make this work.

What’s the best way forward? Best configuration? Best equipment? Best VPN software for my needs?

 

[Xentrk]

On my blog site, I have articles on how to set up Asuswrt-Merlin for OpenVPN server and client.
You are correct that OpenVPN can have an impact on performance as many of us have noted and I wrote about the issue here. Rather than look at hosting your own cloud service on your home network for students, I suggest using an existing cloud service like Google Docs or Dropbox. There are features available to permission folders and files. You don't have to worry about locking down your LAN and other security issues. If you go the route you suggest, you will need to figure out a way to distribute the certificate in a secure manner.