1. What does VPN mean?

   VPN is the private virtual network through which two endpoints create a single connection, private or tunnel, while using a larger network infrastructure, such as the Internet or the wide area network. When set up, a VPN acts as a direct connection to a private network.

   2. How to create a VPN?

   A traditional VPN requires two endpoints. One is the remote endpoint and the other is the local endpoint. To create the VPN connection, both endpoints must be set and configured to send and receive data using a VPN protocol. There are several ways to implement VPN functionality, including third-party clients, integrated OS functionality, and network-based deployments. In any case, both endpoints of the VPN must match or support the VPN methodology used on the other endpoint.
Once both endpoints have been established and configured, they create a connection called a VPN tunnel. The connection can always be activated or dynamically triggered by a user or by certain events.

   3. Types of VPN:

   a. Remote user

   A common form of VPN allows a remote user, whether an employee, student, or other authorized user, to access a private LAN over a public network. In this type of VPN, the remote user must have a VPN client installed and configured to connect to a VPN gateway on the local network. Examples include:

• A remote worker who connects to the corporate network from a remote location over the Internet and accesses data and applications as if they were connected directly to the network.

• A student connected to a campus network using a VPN connection to connect to an autonomous network of laboratory equipment, allowing secure access to machines and data from the smaller network.

   b. Site-to-site

   Another widely used form of VPN allows a WAN-style connection between two different sites through the use of a public network, such as the Internet, rather than going through the expense and difficulty of setting up a direct, private connection. In this type of VPN configuration, users do not need to set up or configure VPN clients. Instead, remote connectivity is routed through two VPN servers. Each VPN server acts as a server for all clients and as the end point of the remote VPN server. In this type of VPN, only the VPN gateway requires a VPN implementation. However, to use the connection, an end user must be directly connected to one of the local networks connected to the VPN gateway.

   c. Customer-supplier

   An increasingly common form of VPN, in which the user connects to a VPN provider which in turn is connected to the internet. The user must have a VPN client installed and configured to connect to the VPN providers of the remote VPN provider. Once established, this VPN connection provides the provider with a secure, virtual tunnel, which then decapsulates the packet and transmits it over the Internet. In this design, the VPN connection exists only for the first part of the connection and not to the destination.

   E.g:

• The main example of this type of VPN connectivity is a remote user using an insecure Wi-Fi network, such as a coffee shop, airport, or hotel. To prevent a nearby part from intercepting unsecured communication over the wireless network, the user can establish a VPN connection to a VPN provider that transmits traffic to the Internet. Easily intercepted local wireless traffic is encrypted up to the provider, which is supposed to connect securely to the internet, making an attack weaker or easier.

• The other main example of this type of VPN is for those who face privacy. In many countries, including recent rulings in the United States, an ISP is allowed to register and use information about where the user logs in and what the user does once logged in. As the user’s ISP, he will have access to any unencrypted traffic from the user. By connecting to a VPN provider, traffic sent through the user’s ISP connection is encrypted. Theoretically, the VPN provider could record and use user traffic at this time, thus shifting the issue of privacy from one place to another. However, since such confidentiality is the main selling point of a VPN provider, such an invasion is less likely.

• Some users have restrictions on the use of the Internet in the form of government restrictions, blockingthe website of the employer or students or even geographical restrictions where the data is only accessible to users in certain areas. A VPN connection may be able to bypass some of these restrictions in some cases. For example, a student blocked on YouTube by his school might be able to access the site by first connecting to the VPN provider. Because the school has no way of knowing where the traffic is going after switching to VPN, the school cannot block the traffic. However, the school may block the VPN provider.

   5. The Advantages Of aVPN:

   A VPN connection offers several benefits, including privacy and security.

• Security

  VPN connections are encrypted. If any data is intercepted, it should be impossible for any attacker to read. While the data is encrypted, it is also true that packet IP headers are also encrypted, denying the attacker even the ability to use typical network data to find additional attack vectors.

• Privacy

  Many VPN connections are used not only for security, but also to provide privacy and a connection. Recent FCC rulings allow US ISPs to register and track their customers’ communications. Uses for this information range from inappropriate, such as advertising and marketing, to legal issues, such as a list of all visited sites offered to government agencies or litigation groups, such as music companies, and movie.

  A VPN connection not only hides the transferred data, but also the final destination of the connections. On a remote website, the IP address of the end client appears to be the IP address of the VPN instead, preventing any tracking of the user. At the user’s ISP, the destination IP address also appears to be the VPN’s IP address, preventing it from tracking where the user is connecting while using the ISP connection. Hiding the user’s real IP address also prevents the possibility of determining the user’s physical location.

• Geographical restrictions

  Some services and applications are only available to users in certain geographic regions. Sometimes these blocks are due to legal issues such as copyright and privacy. In some cases, a VPN connection may allow these blocks to be bypassed. By connecting to a VPN service in another location, the destination service would assume that the connection came from the VPN provider’s location, not the user’s original location, and would allow access. For this reason, VPN services are illegal in some countries.

   6. Disadvantages Of a VPN:

• Speed

  A VPN connection is essentially an additional stop along the way that all data must take. In addition, encryption for data security requires additional time. As a result, each VPN connection will be at least marginally slower.

  The speed of a VPN connection depends on the connection speed of both endpoints. For example, a user accessing a corporate network through a VPN is limited to the slowest connection from the user to the Internet, the Internet connection to the VPN server, and the VPN server connection to the accessed resources.

  Also, a user who uses a VPN for client-to-Internet access may have a gigabit connection directly to his ISP, but if the VPN connection to the Internet does not provide the same gigabit connection to that user, then the general connection could, at maximum, be as fast as the connection provided between VPN and internet.

  A slow VPN provider can lead to a significant decrease in bandwidth. Most paid VPN services guarantee a certain bandwidth in their SLAs.

• Point-to-point communication

  A VPN, by design, is a point-to-point connection style. As a result, any broadcast or multicast will not be used depending on the VPN endpoint. While most applications and operating systems have moved away from these types of networks, there are still older applications in corporate environments, in particular, that rely on them and will not be used on a VPN.