▷ What is a virtual private network (rpv) and what is it used for

Over the years, the use of the Virtual Private Network has been spreading throughout the world. Until just a few years ago, the use of virtual private networks was only the responsibility of large companies, to safeguard their most precious files and access them securely. Today, virtually anyone can create their virtual private network without leaving the chair.

Index of contents

In this article we will try to see as accurately and in detail as possible what a Virtual Private Network or VPN is and what advantages we can obtain from its creation. The Internet is a complicated and insecure world, and it is worth having certain notions on topics like this. So come on the mess.

What is a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

VPN comes from its name in English, Virtual Private Network, which is how it is commonly known to Virtual Private Networks. We are Spanish, so we will tell you RPV.

A VPN is a methodology or structure of computer network with which we can safely extend a local area network or LAN to the public network itself, also known as the Internet. And you will say, How is it possible to extend an internal network to the Internet?

Well, this is what the VPN does, it allows a computer that is physically outside a private network, such as our home one, to send and receive data through public networks as if it were a private network. For practical purposes, this virtual private network will have the same functionalities as a physical private network.

In order to extend a LAN network to the Internet, we will need to establish point-to-point connections with dedicated connections and using strong file encryption. These connections are called tunnels and the method of transmission and connection T unneling, for the fact of sending encrypted data that no one else, except the node located in the virtual private network, can read and decrypt.

What could we do with a Virtual Private Network?

VPNs have many useful applications in a world dominated by the Internet. The need to establish secure connections to preserve data security is becoming increasingly evident. Virtually any one of us can find the means to put companies with poor security at their headquarters in trouble. Some examples in which we could use a VPN would be the following:

• Connect two company headquarters that are physically separated, so that they can communicate with each other over the Internet without anyone being able to intercept communications. Connect to a web server remotely to manage it securely and access its content as administrators. Extend our home network so that we can connect to our desktop computer using a laptop wherever we are and safely.

We see that they are quite similar actions in which we always use the word " remote " or " Internet ", since the idea is to be able to access this private network from anywhere in the world.

Technical requirements that a Virtual Private Network needs to function

Today, it is quite easy to create a VPN, the same Windows 10 operating system has a function that will allow it to be created, as well as many high-end routers on the market, such as NETGEAR or ASUS. But we must know what is behind a VPN connection to better understand why it is so secure.

• There must be a user identification system: to access a VPN, we must first have access credentials using username and password. Files must be encrypted: the data to be transmitted will be done over the Internet, so it must necessarily be encrypted so that it cannot be read and intercepted. Algorithms for security and updating of keys: strong encryption algorithms, such as SEAL, DES, 3DES or AES, will be necessary, as well as having an update system for encryption keys to avoid information filtering. Data integrity: despite having encryption, the data should not be altered from source to destination. The Secure Hash Algoritm and Message Digest (MD5) functions ensure that the content of the message sent is exactly the same as that received, thus we will detect interference and possible access to them during transmission. The message will always be digitally signed to know the origin and authorship of it. Connection protocol: to make a connection safely, we will need a communication protocol. In this case the most widespread is IPSEC, although there are others such as PPTP, SSH, SSL / TLS, L2F and L2TP. Hardware or software devices: Of course we are going to need a series of physical elements with which it is possible to create the VPN network and establish the connection. We can distinguish between physical devices, which are basically routers or the like that provide the possibility of creating a dedicated and self-generated VPN network. And on the other hand there are the applications that implement the systems themselves such as Windows, Linux and Unix, with Open SSH, OpenVPN, etc. These solutions are more fragile and involve exposing the security of our own computer, which will essentially control the VPN.

Types of Virtual Private Networks

There are different architectures for the creation of VPNs, depending on their characteristics, they will be useful for certain users and applications. Let's see them:

Remote access VPN

It is the most widely used method today, due to the ease of use and versatility of the connection. Through a remote access VPN, we can connect with a username and password to this network wherever we are, it will only be necessary to have an Internet connection. The operation is exactly the same as when we are within a private network of a company and we want to connect from a computer with our user, only in this case the link will pass through the Internet.

Tunneling

The system consists of encapsulating a network protocol within another bearer. This will create a tunnel in the network through which the information will circulate, without the intermediate nodes where the PDU passes within another PDU, being able to read the content of the message.

The tunnel will be defined with the points at each end and the protocol that we have used to send the message. This protocol can be for example SSH, to be able to connect to a remote server in a secure way.

Point-to-point RPV

It is similar to tunneling, although in this case we need a VPN server that is directly connected to the Internet and that will take care of accepting incoming remote connections. These servers will connect to the Internet using the services of a provider and will serve to connect, for example, two offices that are located in different geographical points. As we say, it is similar to Tunneling and the latter is also used more.

VPN over LAN

This method is one of the safest in the case of business networks, although the Internet is not used as a means of access to VPN services. Let's say you use the same form of connection as remote access, but through a LAN network of the company itself. In this way it is possible to isolate areas within an internal network and allows us to improve security, for example in wireless connectivity through Wi-Fi.

An example could be access from an internal network to a web server located within it and in turn at a VPN. Only access to the personal area in charge of computer administration would be allowed.

How to create a Virtual Private Network

We already know in detail what a VPN is, now it would be useful to know how we can create one ourselves. And the truth is that it will not be too difficult if we have a current operating system, access to our router to open ports, or in your case a router that is capable of creating this type of network.

Create a VPN with Windows 10 or connect to one

We will begin by explaining how to create a Virtual Private Network using only our Windows 10 operating system. To make this article too long, we are going to link directly to an article in which we already explained in detail how to do this.

Tutorial on how to create a VPN in Windows 10.

Create a VPN with a NETGEAR router and the Cloud Insight platform

Likewise, we have a complete article on the NETGEAR BR500 router in which we explain in detail how to create a VPN network through the brand's Cloud Insight platform. The creation procedure will be practically the same if we have another brand router that implements this technology.

Tutorial on how to create a VPN with NETGEAR Cloud Insight

As soon as we have access to another router with the capacity to create VPN networks, we will carry out a tutorial explaining the process. For now this is the only team with which we have carried it out, and the process is quite simple, with the peculiarity that it uses a NETGEAR cloud-based platform.

This is all about virtual private networks, so we hope you have found it useful to get a better idea of ​​this secure connection technology.

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Do you plan to create a Virtual Private Network? Write us in the comments to make any suggestion or question.