Description:
The time has come, the Walrus said, for virtual private networks (VPNs). Such networks allow the geographically distributed elements of an organization to share files and other resources over what acts like a connection to a local area network (LAN) but is really a secured link across the open (and inexpensive) Internet. The authors of Creating and Implementing Virtual Private Networks understand that VPNs have potentially huge appeal, and they set out to explain the technologies that make them possible. In doing so, they focus on Microsoft's Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) and Novell's BorderManager, since those are the most accessible VPN technologies. The book works through LANs and wide area networks (WANs) and then explains how VPNs can combine the strong points of each (security and geographic flexibility, respectively) with the cost-effectiveness of the Internet. It discusses emerging VPN standards, including Layer 2 Transport Protocol (L2TP), Layer 2 Forwarding (L2F), and the IP Secure (IPSec) standards that have come from those standards and PPTP. The authors walk you through two solutions to the same organization's VPN needs: one based on Novell NetWare 5 and BorderManager and one that uses Windows NT 4 and PPTP. The direct comparison of the two solutions on the same problem is helpful and should help you decide which scenario (if either) fits your needs. --David Wall Topics covered: Technologies for implementing virtual private networks (VPNs) in both generic and proprietary terms. The authors emphasize Microsoft's Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) and Novell's BorderManager, but also cover the emerging Layer 2 Transport Protocol (L2TP), Layer 2 Forwarding (L2F), and IP Secure (IPSec) standards. VPN architecture gets attention, as do universal problems like cost-effectiveness and security.
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