Virtual Private Networks

VPN (Virtual Private Networks) gives enormously secure connections between private networks linked through the Internet. It allows remote computers to act as though they were on the same secure, local network. VPNs enable file sharing, video conferencing and similar network services. Virtual private networks generally don’t provide any new functionality that isn’t already offered through alternative mechanisms, but a VPN implements those services more efficiently / cheaply in most cases. The VPN can be found in workplaces and homes, where they allow employees to safely log into company networks. Telecommuters and those who travel often find a VPN a more suitable way to stay connected to the corporate intranet. No matter your current involvement with VPNs, this is a good technology to know something about. So here it goes…

Imagine thousands of islands in a huge ocean, some are very close to each other and some are very far. The regular way to travel from one island to another is to take a boat from one island to another. Of course, traveling on a boat means that you have almost no privacy. Anything you do can be seen by someone else. We can assume each island as a private LAN and the ocean is the Internet. Traveling by boat is like connecting to a other LAN through the Internet. We have no control over the wires and routers that make up the Internet.

Now suppose an island has a bridge to another island so that there is easier, more secure and direct way for people to travel between the two. It is expensive to build and maintain the bridge, even though the island you are connecting with is very close. But the need for a reliable, secure path is so great that you have to do it anyway. This is very much like having a leased line. The bridges (leased lines) are separate from the ocean (Internet), yet are able to connect the islands (LANs). Many companies have chosen this route because of the need for security and reliability in connecting their remote offices. However, if the offices are very far apart, the cost can be prohibitively high -just like trying to build a bridge that spans a great distance.

Now suppose each resident of an island has a small submarine with some amazing properties. It’s fast, It’s easy to take with you wherever you go, It’s able to completely hide you from any other boats or submarines. Although residents are traveling in the ocean along with other traffic, they could travel back and forth whenever they wanted to with privacy and security. That’s essentially how a VPN works. Each remote member of network can communicate in a secure and reliable manner using the Internet as the medium to connect to the private LAN. A VPN can grow to accommodate more users and different locations much easier than a leased line. In fact, scalability is a major advantage that VPNs have over typical leased lines. Unlike with leased lines, where the cost increases in proportion to the distances involved, the geographic locations of each office matter little in the creation of a VPN.

Advantages Of VPN
1. Allows you to be at home and access your company’s computers in the same way as if you were sitting at work.
2. Almost impossible for someone to tap or interfer with data in the VPN tunnel.
3. If you have VPN client software on a laptop, you can connect to your company from anywhere in the world.

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