Virtual Private Network
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A virtual private network (VPN) is a private communications network often used by companies or organizations, to communicate confidentially over a public network. VPN traffic can be carried over a public networking infrastructure (e.g. the Internet) on top of standard protocols, or over a service provider's private network with a defined Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the VPN customer and the VPN service provider. A VPN can send data e.g. voice, data or video, or a combination of these media, across secured and encrypted private channels between two points. 

There are two common implementations for a VPN: Site-to-Site and Client-to-Site.

Site-to-Site VPN

Some office configurations require sharing information across multiple LANs. Initiating a secure VPN tunnel between two office gateway devices allows sites to share information across the LANs without fearing that outsiders could view the content of the data stream. This site-to-site VPN is a one-to-one VPN tunnel. Two servers or routers set up an encrypted IP tunnel to securely pass packets back and forth over the Internet. The VPN servers create a logical point-to-point connection over the Internet. Routing can be configured on each gateway device to allow packets to route over the VPN link or out the default network link.

Client-to-Site VPN

When a client requires access to a site's internal data from outside the network's LAN, the client needs to initiate a client-to-site VPN connection. This will secure a path to the site's LAN, allowing the client to access a private network address (see RFC 1918). The client-to-site VPN is a many-to-one VPN tunnel. One or more clients can initiate a secure VPN connection to the VPN server, thus securely accessing internal data from an insecure remote location. The client receives an IP address from the server and appears as a member on the server's LAN.

BMC Networks is ready to show you the power and flexibility of VPN. Whether you need to connect two offices across town, across the country or have a secure set up for your "road warrior" laptops, we can make it work for you.

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