PSEC VPN's

A virtual private network (VPN) is a private data network that makes use of the public telecommunication infrastructure, maintaining privacy through the use of a tunneling protocol and security procedures. A virtual private network can be contrasted with a system of owned or leased lines that can only be used by one company. The main purpose of a VPN is to give the company the same capabilities as private leased lines at much lower cost by using the shared public infrastructure. Phone companies have provided private shared resources for voice messages for over a decade. A virtual private network makes it possible to have the same protected sharing of public resources for data. Companies today are looking at using a private virtual network for both extranets and wide-area intranets.

Many point to point VPNs, that is VPNs which connect 2 or more network infrastructures, are created using an IPsec tunnel.  IPsec is a protocol which sits on top of the Internet Protocol (IP) layer. It allows two or more hosts to communicate in a secure manner (hence the name).  IPsec is by far the most dominant protocol for secure VPNs today.

		Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is the confirmed market leader of both the worldwide VPN and firewall markets. The company delivers a broad range of intelligent Perimeter, Internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets.
		Cisco IOS IPsec functionality provides network data encryption at the IP packet level, offering a robust security solution that is standards-based. IPsec provides data authentication and anti-replay services in addition to data confidentiality services.