Virtual Private Network
Let us a scenario in which a company has offices in the US and Europe, the head office are in US while three regional offices are in Europe, now the company has to connect their three offices to the head office. One solution is to use leased lines in which the company has to connect the local ISP(Internet Service Provider) via T1(North American Standard) or E1(European Standard) lines,
for good performance the company need high speed connection means high data rate.
The main problem is security, how the data of the company secure. The first solution means leased line is costly and require regular maintenance.
Now the new term has been used and that is VPN or Virtual Private Network. VPN is private network that uses public network like Internet to connect remote sites and remote user's together. Instead using a separate (dedicated) line or Leased line a VPN established virtual connection routed through public network (Internet).
A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network that uses a public telecommunication infrastructure such as the Internet to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to their organization's network. -Wikipedia
Means by using VPN you can easily connect your office computer at home and you can do your task easily and securely. VPN connection is very secure because the whole communication take place under some cryptographic algorithm that makes your data more secure, so it is recommended to use VPN while using public networks like on coffee shop or any other wifi spot.
VPN Architecture
Three main component acting on a virtual private network:
- VPN Server
- VPN Client
- Public Network(Internet)
The main component is server, server is the computer on which a VPN service runs, it receives the incoming and new request from its client(User's). Server is responsible for secure path allocation means the authentication encryption etc.Server acts as a gateway for each client to allow them to use private network.
Public network is usually a local telecommunication network, Internet which provides the connection between VPN client and VPN server.
Advantages Of Virtual Private Network
- Low telecommunication costs, VPN can eliminated the need of long distance and expensive leased lines and low maintainable cost.
- High security through encryption, authentication and integration.
- Network can be access from anywhere.
- Performance is good and high data rate can be achieve with the reliable bandwidth and efficiency.
- Mobile user's can use high speed broadband connectivity.
