Connect Branch Office Via VPN

Hi

I want to connect my main office with 5 branch offices, all branches have windows 2000 or 2003 server, wich would be the best way (and economic) to do this...

-Via Sofware (ISA Server or Windows) or
-Via Hardware ($$$)

What would be the mains problems of doing it via software???

 

The way I do it for a chain of doctors offices is through linksys VPN routers. Yes there are better ways, but we run a practice management software on a unix server using an emulation software so we don't send and recieve a lot of data. But the linksys VPN routers also use netbios so the machine son the other end are in your network neighborhood. It just depends on what you need to do over that VPN connection. Oh, and you need a static WAN IP address from your ISP at the main location.