VPN - Overview of Virtual Private Networks

A virtual private network is a network within a network. This is very popular with companies that have people working remotely. Basically, w...

A virtual private network is a network within a network. This is very popular with companies that have people working remotely. Basically, what we have here is a utilization of the network that the Internet already provides. The Internet infrastructure can be used as a network for remote employees to access their corporate systems.

Corporate environments have a much greater need for tight security. This is accomplished by creating a VPN (a virtual private network) in addition to your normal Internet connection. This type of connection allows for greater security and encryption. Only authenticated users can access the corporate network and the data being transferred cannot be intercepted.

So this VPN (virtual private network) connection runs over the public Internet.

Two components are needed for this scenario to work

First, there should be a corporate server setup that has the server's VPN software installed ( and a good router with a firewall ).

The next would be to have the VPN client software installed on the remote employees' machines. Once the client machine is on the Internet, they would use the VPN client software to communicate with the VPN of the corporate server where the authentication occurs. When the server identifies the connecting client as a valid machine, network access is granted. From then on, all information to/from the client to the server travels along this virtual private network and is protected by the extra layer of encryption and security provided.

Finally, there may be cost savings if you determine if a leased line or VPN is for you. Leased lines may increase in price based on the geographic distance between sites. A virtual private network does not, and is in fact more scalable. (This is ONLY a general statement. It is best to check with your communications agent before making this decision. An agent will be able to provide much more information compared to speaking to a specific provider.)

VPN is definitely a viable option for small and large businesses that have remote employees, need site-to-site access with remote offices, or secure dial-up connections.

This article is only a very general description. You should use this only as a starting point to even determine if this type of technology is for you or not. During your evaluation of this technology, you should consider what type of implementation you want to do; remote access, site-to-site, or secure dial-up. Additional areas of investigation would be security, firewalls, encryption, server type, and IPSec (Internet Protocol Security Protocol).