A VPN is a private network that uses the Internet to secuely connect remote sites or users together. Instead of using a dedicated connection such as a leased line, a VPN creates a virtual connection through the Internet.

From the user's perspective, a VPN operates transparently, giving remote users the same look and feel as if working at the office. E-mail, databases, Intranets and most other applications can pass through a VPN connection.

With the advent of affordable broadband technologies, businesses can now use the Internet and Virtual Private Networking to bypass expensive, traditional WAN and remote access connections.

Wide Area Networking (WAN)

Traditional WAN solutions require companies to maintain direct links between remote sites and the corporate network. To maintain this LAN-to-LAN connection, companies typically lease costly private data lines. A LAN-to-LAN VPN setup encrypts network traffic and sends it through an Internet connection, instead of relying on dedicated leased line connections or ISDN calls. This results in significant cost savings and a reduction in overall hardware expenses.

Remote Access Services (RAS)

Traditional remote access client-to-LAN solutions use slow, dial-up connections through modem pools or complicated remote access servers. These dial-up connections are expensive considering the long distance charges that are incurred. A client-to-LAN VPN setup sends remote user traffic through the Internet. The advantage is that the remote user can make a local call to an Internet service provider, as opposed to a long distance call to the corporate remote access server. If the remote user has a broadband Internet service this can result in a much faster, more useable connection.