that allows communication between 2 computers or groups of
computers via a public channel, usually the internet. A virtual
private network introduction requires an examination of the
components of the network and how it differs from traditional,
hard-wired network systems.
What is a network? According to Webster's Dictionary, it is "a
system of computers interconnected by telephone wires or other
means in order to share information." Before the internet,
computers in different offices, cities or even countries could
talk to each other like people could - through telephone wires.
As the needs for businesses to do that grew, telephone lines
became replaced by higher volume wires, like T3 circuits, but
the concept was the same. For computer A to talk to computer B,
there had to be a physical wire connection. For security
reasons, you would want to make sure that only your 2 computers
used that line, so you would contract with a vendor to "lease"
that circuit.
Now imagine if you have hundreds of computers all across the
country, all needing to speak to each other and share
information. The cost of leasing private circuits to connect all
of these computers together would grow with the distance between
computers and the number of connections.
But with the advent of the internet, connections no longer
needed to be physical. As long as each computer had access to
the internet, information could be shared across the internet in
much the same way that it was when the computers were physically
connected. This is where the "virtual" part of the term VPN
comes in; a network exists, but it is virtual because the
connections are not hard-wired dedicated, leased lines anymore.
The last component of our virtual private network introduction
is privacy. When networks were still run on leased lines, the
issue of privacy relied in large part on the commitment of the
circuit provider to keep the integrity of their circuits, and
therefore the client's information.
But with a Virtual Private Network, privacy is achieved by
encryption. When information leaves a computer on the network,
it is encrypted in a certain protocol, or code. It is then sent
in a private "tunnel" or pathway across the internet to the
recipient computer, where it is decoded and received. No one can
read the data while it is transmitting, or make any changes to
it without it being rejected by the recipient, so the data is
secure.
In order to create a VPN, you would need to decide who needs to
share information, in what directions, and how often. Next you
would need to prepare a listing of the hardware and software
systems you are currently using at each location. You might need
to make changes so that the computers can talk to each other
easily.
You'll also want to consider just how important it is that your
data remains secure. Now that you've reviewed this virtual
private network introduction, you should move on to considering
things such as what type of protocol you'll need and which
vendor(s) you'd like to work with.
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