VPN's

Darthn3ss

Okay, so i've had a question about VPNs for some time now, just keep forgetting to ask.

I understand that a VPN is a virtual private network and is a good solution for telecommuters and such, but what exactly am i doing when i'm VPNing into say my office? Am i basically connecting to that network over the internet as if i was physically there? Would i be able to authenticate say to a DC or something?

mwgood

You could authenticate via a DC if you remote into one of the machines on the network, I suppose.

Basically, you are connected on the local network so that you can access all internal resources. Routers, switches, servers, etc.

All of this is possible since you are acquiring an IP address on the LAN you VPN into.

Also - traffic sent back and forth should be encrypted.

Darthn3ss

so what is the point?

Pash

Here's a good example:

Normally many businesses now have a VPN concentrator for remote users to connect to when they find a suitable internet connection to use. A popular tool here is Cisco VPN client. This can be configured to use RSA tags for remote user identification and a user can varify who they are by producing the synced number from their display tag.

Now once connected to the VPN concentrator your remote user can now be treated as an internal user, which is great for them because they can now have all the functionality of being in the office. Like named shares can be used now, drive mappings etc.......internal email server can be reached now for companies who do not support secure smtp/pop3 on their network.

So the point is to give remote users the same functionality of being in the office when they could be half way around the world. This applies for IT workers as well, being able to do everything remotely while securing your traffic....is good.

RussS

Darthn3ss wrote:

so what is the point?

1 word .............. Security

sprkymrk

RussS wrote:

Darthn3ss wrote:

so what is the point?

1 word .............. Security

More than that - access to resourses such as file servers. But yes, security is key.

mgeorge

Can I hook my toaster into a VPN ?

Darthn3ss

sprkymrk wrote:

RussS wrote:

Darthn3ss wrote:

so what is the point?

1 word .............. Security

More than that - access to resourses such as file servers. But yes, security is key.

okay thats pretty much what i figured, but i really wasn't sure.

thanks

KGhaleon

mgeorge27 wrote:

Can I hook my toaster into a VPN ?

Only with the VPN extender.