A Virtual Private Network (VPN) enables a user to connect to public network privately and hence, secures browsing. VPN encrypts the data of the user by masking the IP address and creates a VPN tunnel for the user. All the internet traffic and communication is passed through this tunnel. A time when internet is at best, VPN service is a must to use. A VPN service keeps the user data secure and private. The two basic types of VPN are:
- Remote Access VPN
Remote access VPN enables a user to connect to a network privately and access the services remotely. The connection is secure and private. It useful for both the corporate and the home users. An employee could be travelling across the globe and can connect to their company’s private network to access the files and resources or to share them. Home users can use it for bypassing restricted content of the blocked websites or to use torrent. People who are conscious of the internet tracking their movements can also use it to mask the same.
- Site – to – Site VPN
This one is also known as the Router – to – Router VPN. It is mostly used in the corporate world for offices in different locations. It enables to connect the network of one office to an office located in any other location. This kind of connection among offices of the same company using Site – to – Site VPN is called as Intranet based VPN. When Site – to – Site VPN is used to connect to the office of another company, it is called Extranet VPN. Basically, it creates a kind of bridge between the geographically distant offices through internet and provides a secure and private network to communicate. One router acts as a VPN client and the other as a VPN server. The communication can only be carried out once an authentication is validated from both the sides.
Types of VPN protocols
The two VPN types have to follow best VPN security protocols. Each of the protocols has different features and levels of security, as explained below:
- IPSec (internet protocol security)
IPSec is secures internet communication over an IP network by authentication of the sessions and encrypts the data pack during the connection. It operates in two modes i.e. Transport mode and Tunneling mode. It protects any kind of data transfer between the networks. The transport mode encrypts the message in the data pack whereas the tunneling mode encrypts the whole data pack.
- L2TP ( Layer to tunneling protocol)
It is a tunneling protocol that gets combined with another protocol like IPSec to create a highly secured connection. It creates a tunnel between two L2TP connection point and IPSec encrypts the data and hence, enables a secure communication between the tunnels.
- PPTP (point – to – point tunneling protocol)
PPTP encapsulates the date by creating a tunnel. It used a PPP (point – to – point protocol) to encrypt the data between the connections. PPTP is supported on Windows as well as MAC and Linux.
- Open VPN
It is an open source VPN that helps in creating a point – to – point and site – to- site connection. It used security protocol based on SSL and TLS.