Paradox over internet

Hello Paradix gurus

I am examining possible solutions to upgrade an old application that uses
BDE
and paradox into a client/server application where the clients can reach
the
data over internet.

Is it possible to reach the data over internet in the same way as it is
possible to reach it over a local network? As far as I understand it this
would require a VPN or something similar but my customer claims that it
can
be done through some database settings. Am I missing something?

/Kristian