A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology which allows two or more computers to set up a private connection over a public network such as the internet. It was developed to help companies with several branches and remote users share corporate information and other resources with one another privately. VPN tunneling is the process by which private data packets are sent from the sender to the recipient through a public network. It is an efficient tool which IT companies in Ottawa can use to help businesses carry out transactions and share information securely over public connections.
VPN tunneling is made possible by the use of specific network protocols. For any business that runs transactions online in Ottawa, network security can be upheld if an IT company sets up a standard protocol for their VPN. The two main protocols that are used for VPN tunneling are Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) and Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP). Both of these protocols employ tunneling in an ‘internet session’ format. The clients involved in the protocol are required to agree to the tunnel connection, as well as factors such as encryption parameters and assignment of addresses. The creation, maintenance and termination of a VPN tunnel is done using a tunnel management protocol.
VPN tunneling works by a fundamental process known as encapsulation. Encrypted data packets are sent from one node onto the VPN. Once the packets have been received on the network, the VPN encapsulates each of the data packets within a different datagram packet. This preparation of data is done by the tunnel data transfer protocol established within the VPN tunnel. For instance, when a business in Ottawa offering network support wanted to send a payload to the VPN tunnel server, the data is first appended with a tunneling protocol header. The resulting encapsulated data is then sent across the tunnel to the VPN tunnel server. The tunneling server then omits the tunneling protocol header before forwarding the data to its target network.
The two main types of VPN tunneling are Voluntary and Compulsory tunneling. With voluntary tunneling, a user sends a request to a VPN to create a voluntary tunnel. In this case, the user’s computer is considered the tunnel client. Voluntary tunneling requires that the client computer should have the appropriate software and protocols preinstalled in order to make the connection possible. With compulsory tunneling, a remote access server sets up and configures a VPN using a device called a dial-up access server, which acts as the tunnel client. Depending on the technical availability, IT companies offering computer services in Ottawa should be able to choose which VPN tunneling is appropriate for their clients and implement them accordingly.