Virtual Private Networks : Making the Right

Network-dependent companies are excited by the benefits promised by the virtual private network, including lower costs, greater flexibility, and improvements in connectivity. But they also have questions: What benefits are real? How can they be measured? What are the expenses and the dangers? Virtual Private Networks: Making the Right Connection is an intelligent introduction written especially for business and IT professionals who want a realistic assessment of what a VPN can provide for their organizations. Covering advantages and risks, this book expands your understanding of what you can do with a VPN, while detailing all that implementing it will demand of you. With its help, you'll find your way through VPN hype to the answers you need to make sound decisions. * Thoroughly explains VPN concepts and technologies, and examines the potential of VPNs as intranets, extranets, and remote access solutions. * Covers essential VPN topics like tunneling, encapsulation, encryption, security, and protocols. * Provides detailed points of comparison between typical VPN costs and the costs of maintaining traditional WANs. * Offers frank consideration of the hidden costs and risks sometimes associated with VPNs, helping you decide if a VPN is right for you. * Lists and assesses the software and hardware products you may need to implement a VPN. * Discusses both Internet-based VPNs and VPN services offered by providers of "private" ATM and frame relay networks, detailing the pros and cons of each.

Dennis Fowler is a columnist for ACM netWorker Magazine.

Foreword	p. vii
Preface	p. xv
Defining the Virtual Private Networks	p. 1
What Is a VPN?	p. 2
What a VPN Is Good for and Why You Should Consider Building One	p. 5
Economies of Sharing	p. 6
Flexibility	p. 8
Worldwide Connectivity on a Budget	p. 10
The VPN and the Mobile Workforce	p. 11
Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud	p. 17
How a VPN Works	p. 18
Tunneling	p. 18
Securing the Data	p. 19
Making the Combination Work	p. 20
Where We Go from Here	p. 21
How to Use a VPN	p. 23
The VPN for Remote Access	p. 23
A Medical Software Company	p. 24
The Prudential Insurance Company of America	p. 25
The VPN as an Extranet	p. 27
Automotive Network eXchange	p. 27
Open Access Same-Time Information Systems (OASIS)	p. 31
The VPN as an Intranet	p. 33
Mazzio's Corporation	p. 33
Galaxy Scientific Corporation	p. 36
Conclusion	p. 38
The Downside to VPNs	p. 39
Do You Really Need a VPN?	p. 39
Connection Availability	p. 40
Security	p. 41
Snooping or Sniffing	p. 42
Capturing Addresses	p. 42
Session Hijacking	p. 43
Data Tampering	p. 43
The Lack of Standards	p. 44
Performance/Quality of Service	p. 46
Hidden Costs	p. 47
Management	p. 47
Fitting It In with Your Architecture	p. 48
End User Training	p. 49
Security, Again	p. 50
Conclusion	p. 50
Internet Versus Other VPNs	p. 51
Clearing Up Some Confusion	p. 51
The Internet	p. 52
TCP/IP on Other Networks	p. 56
Frame Relay, ATM, and TCP/IP	p. 56
The Internet Versus Private Services	p. 56
The Frame Relay Advantages	p. 57
An Example of a Frame Relay VPN	p. 61
The Trade-Offs	p. 64
The Cost Factor	p. 64
Flexibility	p. 66
Security	p. 67
Reliability and Accountability	p. 68
Customer Services and Technical Support	p. 68
Conclusion	p. 69
Encryption	p. 71
An Overview of Encryption	p. 72
Secret Key (Symmetric) Cryptosystems	p. 75
Public Key (Asymmetric) Cryptosystems	p. 78
Diffie-Hellman Encryption	p. 79
RSA Encryption	p. 81
Other Public Key Systems	p. 85
Digital Signatures, Hashing, and Message Authentication Codes	p. 85
Putting It All Together	p. 88
Conclusion	p. 89
User Authentication, Authorization, and Key Management	p. 91
User Authentication	p. 91
The Username/Password Challenge	p. 92
VPN User Authentication: The Simplest Scenario	p. 94
Central Authorities	p. 94
Key Management and Certificate Authorities	p. 99
Certificate Authorities	p. 101
The ITU-TX.509 Certificate Standard and the Public Key Infrastructure	p. 103
Public Key Cryptography Standards	p. 104
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and VPNs	p. 104
Making the Connection: More than Just Managing Keys	p. 104
ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE)	p. 105
Conclusion	p. 110
Tunneling and the VPN Protocol Suites	p. 111
Tunneling	p. 112
The IP Packet and Encapsulation	p. 112
VPNs and the Open System Interconnection Model	p. 115
Packet-Oriented VPN Protocols	p. 117
Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol	p. 117
Layer 2 Forwarding Protocol	p. 120
Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol	p. 120
AltaVista Tunneling Protocol	p. 121
IPSec	p. 122
Simple Key Management for Internet Protocols	p. 128
Application-Oriented VPN Protocols	p. 131
Secure SHell	p. 131
SOCKS v.5 Network Security Protocol	p. 132
Sun.NET	p. 133
Quality of Service Protocols and VPNs	p. 133
Conclusion	p. 134
Architecture	p. 135
Software Versus Hardware Solutions	p. 135
Hiding Your LAN	p. 137
User Authentication	p. 138
The Basic Scenarios	p. 138
The Client-to-LAN VPN	p. 138
The LAN-to-LAN VPN	p. 146
Conclusion	p. 151
Planning Your VPN	p. 153
Analyze Your Needs	p. 153
Consider the Possibilities	p. 154
Look at What You Are Doing Now	p. 154
Take a Detailed Inventory of Your Resources	p. 155
Inventory Your Material Resources	p. 156
Inventory Your Human Resources	p. 158
Outsourced Versus In-House	p. 158
Establish the Goals for Your VPN	p. 161
Plan for the Evolution/Expansion of the Network	p. 163
Begin to Sketch Out a Budget	p. 163
Study All Your Options	p. 164
Develop an Architecture	p. 164
A Review of the Protocols	p. 165
IPSec Is a Developing Industry Standard	p. 168
The Ready Availability of PPTP and L2TP	p. 168
SKIP Is Being Marginalized in the Market	p. 169
AltaVista, SOCKS v.5, and Secure SHell Are Niche Products	p. 169
Sun.NET Is an Unproven Product	p. 170
Evaluate Products and Vendors	p. 170
Define a Pilot Project	p. 172
Plan on a Phased Rollout	p. 172
Conclusion	p. 173
Administration and Management	p. 175
Security	p. 176
The First Line of Defense	p. 177
Beware of Back Doors	p. 180
Security Through Obscurity	p. 181
Keeping the VPN Up	p. 181
Service Level Agreements	p. 182
Managing Performance on Your Part	p. 183
Managing One Big Network	p. 184
Conclusion	p. 186
VPN Developers, Vendors, and Service Providers	p. 189
Resources	p. 195
Glossary	p. 199
Bibliography	p. 207
Index	p. 211
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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Virtual Private Networks : Making the Right Connection

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