While VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) have revolutionized the corporate networking world, few truly understand how they work. For business managers with limited IT knowledge choosing the right VPN solution can be a real headache, especially since this decision will greatly affect IT management in many ways. Even specialists can easily get confused sorting through numerous standards, recommendations, specifications, acronyms, and scores of VPN solutions vendors.

VPNs were once associated with providing large corporate organizations with an expensive network to communicate between a number of offices at national or international level. However, the popularity of VPNs over the Internet is increasing, with corresponding increases in cost-effectiveness, reliability and security. Digital Integrity Solutions can design a VPN to allow your company communicate with remote offices, suppliers, clients and mobile users.

What is a VPN? A VPN (Virtual Private Network) enables a specific group of users to access private network data and resources securely over the Internet or other networks. Although often using public networks, a VPN inherits the characteristics of a private network, hence the acronym of "Virtual" Private Network. It's the concurrent use of tunneling, encryption, authentication, and access control over a public network that basically characterizes a VPN.

What is a VPN made of? VPNs may connect an individual machine and a private network (client-to-server) or a remote LAN (Local Area Network) and a private network (server-to-server). To do so VPNs need: a routed network (to transport data packets), optionally a tunnel switch (to increase security and versatility) , and tunnel terminators (acting like virtual cable terminators).

How do VPNs work? VPNs create "virtual" point-to-point connections using a technique called 'tunneling'. As the name suggests, tunneling acts like a 'pipe' which bores through a network cloud to connect two points. Typically started by a remote user, the tunneling process encapsulates data and encrypts it into standard TCP/IP packets, which can then safely travel across the Internet.

What types of VPN exist? One must bear in mind that the VPN market has tremendously expanded these last years. As it evolves the lines between various classifications and architectures blur out. Hardware manufacturers now provide software clients that offer features historically available only through software or firewall-based solutions, while stand-alone applications on the other hand may support encrypting routers to improve performance. Emerging standards such as IPsec provide a standard to create custom solutions. From a broad standpoint, one can identify three basic types of VPN:

• Intranet VPN: this type of VPN is "client transparent". It is usually implemented for networks within a common network infrastructure but across various physical locations. For instance several buildings may be connected to a data center, or a common mainframe application that they can access securely through private lines. Those VPNs need to be especially secure with strong encryption and meet strict performance and bandwidth requirements. They must remain easily upgradeable since many users may be added to the load down the road (additional locations or applications).

• Remote Access VPN : here VPN is "client initiated". It is intended for remote users that need to connect to their corporate LAN from various point of connections. It is intended for salesmen equipped with laptops and telecommuters that will connect intermittently from vary diverse locations (homes, hotels, conference halls...). The key factor here is flexibility as performance and bandwidth are usually minimal and less of an issue. More than encryption, authentication will be the main security concern.

• Extranet VPN : in this case VPN uses the Internet as main backbone. It usually addresses a wider scale of users and locations, enabling customers, suppliers and branch offices to access corporate resources across various network architectures. They rely on VPN standards such as IPsec to ensure maximum compatibility while trying not to overly compromise security.

Whether it is a proprietary or open source solution you seek, Digital Integrity Solutions has the experience, staff and skill sets to deploy a secure, robust and cost-efficient VPN for your business.

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