Just to get the smart aleckery out of me and out of the way...
Possibly
Most Definately
said by TheButler:Will this be more work that I realize ?
Oh yes
...but hey, if you're up for a technical challenge and alittle "outside your comfort zone" learning,
go for it.
Off the top of my head, I don't see any conflicts between your goals and your restrictions.
If you're looking specifically into VPN, you may want to do some reading into what VPN is
and how it operates -- Wiki or
this book comes highly recommended for a pretty good intro into VPN.
3 VPN protocols out there :
- IPSec -- UDP500, IP protocol 50, 51
PRO : been around forever and a day, well documented
CON : can be difficult to set up / troubleshoot, can be blocked by firewalls
- SSL
PRO : uses HTTPS / TCP443, "supposedly" easier setup than IPSec
CON : purchasing from a vendor may result in 'per seat' licencing costs
- MS PPTP -- TCP1723
PRO : been around forever and a day, Windows friendly
CON : encryption algorithm is weak (read:broken), can be blocked by firewalls
For Goals #1 and #2, a site-to-site VPN to the rented linux server could be done fairly
easily... and site to site's been around forever and a day, so setup shouldn't be that hard.
You just need a home edge device that supports forming and maintaining said S2S tunnel.
Both IPSec and SSL could be employed to do this.
For Goal #3, you'd want a remote access solution, so again, your home edge device would
have to support the 3 protocols above, and your ISP would have to allow the above traffic
into your equipment.
All 3 protocols above could be used to set this up.
The major thing, as I said, is learning a) how this stuff works, b) what equipment to get, then
c) learning how to get said equipment to work. You'd also have to budget for the actual hardware
itself -- I can't give you any hard numbers as it depends on what you want (to get) in the end.
Also about using a US-based linux server... in light of all the brouhaha with the NSA and snooping in on traffic, you sure about using this type of setup?
My 00000010bits
Regards