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The VPN as a Secure Environment
One of the most popular approaches to establishing
a secure computing and network environment is
the virtual private network (VPN). VPNs enable
organizations to use Internet transport to connect
remote offices and remote users to the main
corporate site, thus eliminating expensive dedicated
WAN links and modem banks. A growing number
of business owners are embracing teleworking
for their workers, and for good reasons. Some
employers use it to save on office space as
a company grows. Others see it as a way to give
workers the flexibility to extend their day,
communicating with coworkers in time zones around
the world. By helping employees avoid a long
commute or better manage their personal responsibilities.
In a tight job market, many entrepreneurs use
telecommuting as a means of recruiting and retaining
top talent. Furthermore, with the advent of
cost-effective, high-bandwidth technologies
like DSL, organizations can use VPNs to reduce
their connectivity costs while simultaneously
increasing remote connection bandwidth. Businesses
that run their VPNs over a shared or public
infrastructure enjoy the same security, quality
of service (QoS), reliability, and manageability
as they do in their own private networks. VPNs
allow the end customer to realize the cost advantages
of shared network.
Site-to-site VPNs are an alternative WAN infrastructure
that are used to connect branch offices, home
offices, or business partners' sites to all
or portions of a company's network. VPNs do
not inherently change private WAN requirements,
such as support for multiple protocols, high
reliability, and extensive scalability - but
instead meet these requirements more cost-effectively
and with greater flexibility. VPNs provide a
comprehensive feature set to meet diverse networking
requirements, including support for routing,
multiprotocol, and multicast across the VPN.
The two basic types of VPN services are Access
VPNs and Site-to-Site VPNs. The three main applications
are for remote access, intranet and extranet
connectivity.
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