VPN Systems
VPN is an acronym which stands for "virtual private network" and is mainly used to connect networks that are
geographically diverse to act as a local network as a whole, or to ensure privacy across public networks. When
used to create a local network across a geographical diverse area VPN's act as a network extension that allows
network devices to see network resources as though they were local, common uses include network file sharing,
printer sharing, peer-to-peer resource sharing and the sharing of protected network resources. In addition when
users are connected to VPN's they can all share network resources going to and from the Internet such as network
filtering and firewall services. When privacy is a concern or when the sharing of network resources that needs
to be secure are involved, a VPN will play a role in encrypting network communication between locations. This
security layer prevents the public network from intruding into the network and viewing information as it travels
from point to point, additionally it provides a mechanism to authenticate a network device from access to the
VPN network.
Implementation of VPN.s can be done through a variety of methods, the most simple of them is through configuration
on an internal virtual network adapter that acts as a conduit to the VPN network. Most operating systems have this
as a standard option in the networking section of their systems, Windows allows users to directly configure a new
connection through a setup wizard which steps you through the network options needed to connect to a VPN, Linux
requires that the service ipsec be installed and active in order to connect to a VPN network. Although servers
running Windows or Linux can handle multiple VPN connections at a time it is advantageous to terminate the VPN
networks through network hardware such as a VPN router. A VPN router will generally be a device that acts as a
gateway to external networks which allow incoming VPN connections and Internet access as well as a firewall to
protect the internal network from the unsecure public network. External devices are able to connect to the VPN
router and the router will then upon successful authentication connect the external device to the internal
network and treat the devices in the incoming VPN connection as local devices.
