Lesson 12:Understanding Virtual Private Networks

What Are VPNs? | VPN Technologies | Access, Intranet, and Extranet VPNs | VPN Examples

What’s Driving VPN Offerings?

The strain on today's corporate networks is greater than ever before. Network managers must continually find ways to connect geographically dispersed work groups in an efficient, cost-effective manner. Increasing demands from feature-rich applications used by a widely dispersed workforce are causing businesses of all sizes to rethink their networking strategies. As companies expand their networks to link up with partners, and as the number of telecommuters and remote users continues to grow, building a distributed enterprise becomes ever more challenging.
To meet this challenge, VPNs have emerged, enabling organizations to outsource network resources on a shared infrastructure. Access VPNs in particular appeal to a highly mobile work force, enabling users to connect to the corporate network whenever, wherever, or however they require.

Networked Applications

The traditional drivers of network deployment are also driving the deployment of VPNs.

New networked applications, such as videoconferencing, distance learning, advanced publishing, and voice applications, offer businesses the promise of improved productivity and reduced costs. As these networked applications become more prevalent, businesses are increasingly looking for intelligent services that go beyond transport to optimize the security, quality of service, management and scalability/reliability of applications end to end.

Example of a VPN

This what a VPN might look like for a company with offices in Munich, New York, Paris, and Milan.

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