Company Use Vpn For Remote Access Services example essay topic

This paper will Describe in detail what Virtual Private Networking is and how it is used in companies. It will cover all of the benefits, as well as the problems encountered in achieving success with this facilitator of social software. It will give examples of companies and how they use the technology, it will provide case studies of companies that have used the technology successfully. It will review the author's thoughts of how to use VPN in a common workplace. Then it will show you how to implement VPN on a network, through both hardware and software installations. You will see how employees collaborate with this tool and use it to increase productivity.

You will see the obstacles that you would encounter with a VPN system and how to overcome those obstacles and solve problems that might occur in its everyday use. Later in the paper you will see the more popular products available that support VPN and you will also see a price comparison of those products. Near the end of the paper you will see an estimate that adequately shows the cost of full implementation in a business workplace. A virtual private network (VPN) uses a public network infrastructure to make the connections among geographical dispersed nodes. It can also be described as a logical local area network that connects an organization's geographically dispersed sites in a way that makes them appear to be part of one single network.

A VPN differs from a typical wide area network in the following way. Instead of a hardwired pipeline between nodes of a standard wide area network using a dedicated connection, the connections of a VPN are made through a web of cables of a public network such as the Internet. See Figure 1 & 2 for graphical representation. Figure 1: A typical leased-line wide area network. Figure 2: The same company using a VPN. There are several ways a companies use a VPN.

A VPN can do anything a leased line wide area network can do and more. Companies connect to geographically distant facilities into a cohesive network. By using the international resources of the Internet, a VPN can offer connectivity virtually anywhere in the world. This allows a company to expand globally. Company use VPN for remote access services.

It is not only an extremely cost-effective way to service a mobile workforce or telecommuters but it allows workers to connect into the home office through an Internet service provider from anywhere in the world, riding through a public Internet to log on to the office network, rather than running up long-distance charges by dialing up a remote access server thousand of miles way. Some service companies use VPN to run diagnosis of equipment to determine why it is malfunctioning. A benefit of VPN's is the use of the Internet to access off site locations or employees. These "virtual" connections allow off site locations and employees communication to the LAN. Another benefit would be improved security. VPN's sit behind a firewall, encrypt information transferred via the Internet, Internet Protocol Security Protocol (IPSec) which allows better encryption and authentication and (authentication, authorization and accounting) servers which are used for more secure access in a remote-access VPN environment (Jeff Tyson, HowStuffworks. com).

Benefits also include reduced cost versus WAN or leased lines. Reduced transmit time and simplified topology. There are many problems to address before implementing a VPN. These can be divided into three categories: Implementation, Configuration and Support. Implementation A successful VPN should acquire simplified software that end users are comfortable using. Otherwise expensive training can impose additional costs not addressed in the initial estimated price of the VPN.

Virtual IP addresses are needed to integrate into the corporate network. These addresses can cause some problems for application protocols such as NETMeeting and X windows. Configuration: Areas of concern when configuring a VPN include Internet access type, bandwidth usage and Internet availability. Bandwidth usage charges are extremely expensive in Europe, Internet connections may become congested or fail and Internet access may not be possible in some situations. The system administrator must prepare for these concerns prior to implementing a VPN.

Support: VPN's should maintain their existing dial in methods to allow access to the Internet when an ISP goes down or is congested. This will help guarantee availability to the network when the Internet is not functioning with a high degree of reliability (Jeff Tyson, web). We contacted Cyber guard. com and asked for a case study of van use, they pointed us to the following case study: The first known successful use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to transmit an entire ECT (Eddy Current Test) inspection of Steam Generators during a regularly scheduled Nuclear Plant Outage using the Internet was recently completed using a Snap Gear appliance. Large file binary Steam Generator inspection data was transmitted from New Brunswick Power's Point Lepreau Nuclear Power Station in Canada to a specialized data analysis team located in the small town of Snoqualmie, WA USA. We also contacted The ETH Z"u rich, Department of Physics and asked how they use VPN, they use VPN for two things: o Access from your home computer to the services at E THZ (like access to subscriptions of electronic journals) o Access to the world out of the student docking [1] and wireless LAN [2] If we were to implement VPN in a business, we would use it depending on the business model.

Let's say for instance that we were an IT business that outsourced our workers to companies that needed technicians off and on. We would install VPN in our base network with Cisco switches, then have our technicians connect externally through our IP address with issued accounts. They would use a network connection at the client's business to initially send the request for a VPN session. Our Cisco firewalls would direct them to our internal VPN server where they could use common files and folders to collaborate with our other technicians. To initially set this up we would first lay a hard wired network in a building with a server specifically for the VPN accounts.

On that computer we would setup the VPN protocol with the user accounts for each technician. Then we would setup the firewall on a Cisco router that connects us to an internet connection to allow VPN connections and have it direct those connections to this specific server where they will be allowed to access files and folders depending on account rights that they are granted. There are many problems that can occur with the implementation of a VPN to a company, as there are with any new systems. The major issue when creating a Virtual Private network that a company will use for its employees to be able to wireless ly access its database and servers from around the globe is security. By creating a VPN, a company makes its entire database available throughout the world, accessible to all that wish to enter it. Without the use of an HTTPS or high security settings on the VPN's access, anyone whom wishes is allowed to go into the system and assess and alter any of the company's information that they desire.

This failure to design a security system could result great losses of capital from the company, and exposes all that the company is working on, and all of what they have. This could allow another company to buy the files, and build similar products, and innovations with the same techniques, putting the hacked company in serious jeopardy. Another big problem with implementing a VPN is the reaction on the users end. Several different downfalls can occur at this point. The first problem presented at the end user is the training for the system.

Although the training for a VPN system that is incorporated to an already existing system is not much of a change, users still need to be trained to use it efficiently. The training for this could suggest that the users keep their passwords secure, and remember them to login. A big part of the training would need to involve security issues. Not only with the password protection, but also common sense issues, such as not leaving the database open and accessible for anyone to go on their computer or PDA and alter information, or to be careful themselves when entering information into the system, for they are accessing the company's server. Lastly, the training is a necessity for the system, as to allow those who would reject something threatening the status quo to gradually accept it. To prevent their downfalls, a company needs only to follow certain security guidelines.

With security measures added to the system, the chances of being hacked are reduced. Although the use of passwords and other security information from the end user is a great way to ensure only the people you want on the system are there, too much is not a good thing. If too many passwords or security checks are needed in order to access the system, use of the VN would be aggravating for an employee and become discouraged. To solve this with out compensating security measures, automatic security checks can be set.

Examples of these include allowing only certain IP address o MAC addresses into the system, or have it available in certain areas or by certain servers. There is a variety of products available for companies to purchase. Cisco is a great company who offers a small variety of products with a variety of prices. Cisco 1700- is a Modular Access Router which is preferably for small to medium sized businesses as well as enterprise small branch offices. This provides multi-service data, voice, and fax integration as well as high-speed broadband Internet connection and security solutions. The Modular Access Routers range from $1,200 to $4,000.

There are other parts of this system which include the Memory Options ($500-$1,000), the Module Options ($1,000), the Spares and Accessories ($100-$3,000), and the WAN Interface Cards ($300). Cisco 3000- is for small businesses with 100 or fewer access users to large organizations with 10,000 users. The supported connectivity mechanisms are the IPSec and the Web VPN which have no additional charges or fees and allows one to access web pages, file shares and e-mail. There are different versions of the Cisco 3000 and the prices range from $2,000 to $75,000.

Cisco 5000- allows for easy deployment of VPN services. It includes the most advanced and high performance techniques that are available. This series is the "most feature-rich carrier-class VPN product line on the market". (digital warehouse) The concentrator ranges from $5,000-$19000 as the Encryption Service Processor ranges from $40,000-$60,000 and the Power Supply Spares and Options are from $50-$5,000. The cost for a system to be installed in a company mainly depends on the size of the company.

The smaller companies will typically use the less expensive and the larger the companies will use the more expensive system. Overall, for a high quality VPN system a company would pay about $8,000. This price depends on whether or not the company needs the accessories or an upgrade kit or spares for the system.

Bibliography

Fowler, Dennis 1999.
Virtual Private Networks: making the right connections. Morgan Kaufman Publishers, Inc. Tyson, Jeff. "How Virtual Private Networks Work". Retrieved December 4, 2004 web "Digital Warehouse-Reducing the Cost of Network Infrastructure".
Retrieved December 5, 2004 web.