Virtual Private Networks: Technologies and Solutions - Softcover

Yuan, Ruixi; Strayer, W. Timothy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0201702096 ISBN 13: 9780201702095

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional, 2001

Synopsis

(Pearson Education) An overview of the fundamental concepts and architectures of virtual private networks, with an in-depth examination of advanced features and functions. Also contains a forward look at the future of virtual private networks that examines issues such as security and quality of service. DLC: Extranets (Computer networks).

About this title

About the Author

Ruixi Yuan is a network researcher focusing on high-speed networking and security. He was the architect of Genuity's VPN Advantage Service and served as its product manager. In addition, he has conducted research and development in computer and communication networks at NEC, GTE Laboratories, and BBN Technologies. W. Timothy Strayer is a senior scientist at BBN Technologies where he conducts research on network protocols, routing infrastructures, computer security, and network management and monitoring systems for VPNs. Prior to BBN, he was a senior network researcher at Sandia National Laboratories. He co-authored the book, XTP: The Xpress Transfer Protocol (Addison-Wesley, 1992).

0201702096AB04062001

From the Back Cover

Virtual private networks have become an essential part of today's business networks, as they provide a cost-effective means of assuring private internal and external communications over the shared Internet infrastructure. Virtual Private Networks: Technologies and Solutions is a comprehensive, practical guide to VPNs. This book presents the various technology components, concrete solutions, and best practices you need to deploy and manage a highly successful VPN.

Readers will find an overview of fundamental VPN concepts and architectures, followed by an in-depth examination of advanced features and functions such as tunneling, authentication, access control, VPN gateways, VPN clients, and VPN network and service management. Specific topics covered include:

• IPsec, featuring the Authentication Header, Encapsulating Security Payload, Internet Key
• Exchange, and implementation details
• PPTP, L2F, L2TP, and MPLS as VPN tunneling protocols
• Two-party and three-party authentication, including RADIUS and Kerberos
• Public key infrastructure (PKI) and its integration into VPN solutions
• Access control policies, mechanisms, and management, and their application to VPNs
• VPN gateway functions, including site-to-site intranet, remote access, and extranet
• Gateway configuration, provisioning, monitoring, and accounting
• Gateway interaction with firewalls and routers
• VPN client implementation issues, including interaction with operating systems
• Client operation issues, including working with NAT, DNS, and link MTU limits
• VPN management architectures and tunnel and security management
• Outsourcing and service provider environments

The book concludes with a forward look at the future of VPNs that examines such issues as security and quality of service (QoS). VPN scenarios throughout the book demonstrate how to put the described techniques and technologies to work in a real-world Virtual Private Network.

0201702096B04232001

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Internet has been around in one form or anotherfor more than three decades now, but it really has been since the middleof the 1990s that the use of the Internet became a daily part of people'slives. Connectivity to the Internet is now imperative for almost all companies,regardless of what their business really is. Individuals can find Internetaccess at school, work, and home, in cafés and kiosks, and in cellphones and PDAs. Staying connected has become an obsession.

The focus has shifted from being connected to being securelyconnected. It is one thing to have Internet access, but without security,the usefulness of the connectivity is rather limited. People want to havethe reach of the Internet, but they should not have to compromise theirprivacy or expose proprietary resources.

Fortunately, all of the ingredients are present for constructinga private network on top of a public one. The challenge comes in puttingthe technologies together so that the result is a viable and secure virtualprivate network.

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the technologiesused to enable VPNs, the VPN products built from these technologies, andthe combinations of various components to provide practical VPN solutions.

VPN technologies and solutions are still rapidly evolving.This book describes the current state of the art in this field. But thingschange quickly, so when appropriate, we have attempted to point out thecontinued effort in the industry to develop new technologies and solutions.

Audience

This book is intended for a broad range of readers interestedin virtual private networks.

For network engineers and managers, this book serves asa practical guide to the technologies and solutions. It discusses issuesto be considered in designing and implementing a VPN.

For VPN software and hardware developers, it provides the necessary background material to understand the functions to be developed and the rationale behind them.

For IT managers and executives, this book sets the overallcontext of VPNs and provides the means for assessing various implementationsfrom equipment vendors and service offerings from service providers.

For students and educators, this book can be used as areference text for a course in network security or electronic commerce.

Book Organization

This book is organized in three parts. Part I--VPN Fundamentals--consistsof three chapters: Introduction, Basic Concepts, and VPN Architectures.Chapter 1 introduces the concept of VPN and how it permits flexibilityin facilitating private communication in a public network. We also classifythe relevant technologies into four distinct categories. Chapter 2 setsVPNs in context by briefly reviewing the development of the Internet andhow security has been thrust to the forefront. It also reviews the basicIP networking and cryptography concepts that pertain to VPNs. Chapter 3presents VPN architectures in two ways. The first approach is based ondesigning VPN around practical networking solutions: site-to-site intranet,extranet, and remote access. The second approach focuses on the differenttraffic aggregation points where security services are applied.

Part II--VPN Technologies--consists of five chapters:Tunnels, IPsec, Authentication, Public Key Infrastructure, and Access Control.Chapter 4 is concerned with the most important technology category--tunneling.We investigate the many different tunneling technologies that are importantin VPN solutions. Chapter 5 concentrates on IPsec, the security protocolfor IP standardized by the IETF and, in our opinion, the VPN tunnelingtechnology that will be most prevalent going forward. Chapter 6 describesauthentication in a broad context first and then describes the varioustwo-party and three-party schemes that widely applied in networking. Themost important three-party scheme--PKI--is then presented in Chapter 7.In Chapter 8, we look at access control technologies, an often overlookedbut vital aspect of VPNs. We describe how access policies can be presented,managed, and enforced in a networked environment.

Part III--VPN Solutions--consists of four chapters: VPNGateways, VPN Clients, VPN Network and Service Management, and VPN Directions:Beyond Connectivity. This part describes how the various technology componentscan be assembled to create practical VPN solutions. Chapter 9 starts withthe roles played by a VPN gateway, then derives the requirements imposedon the gateway, and finally describes the various functions that shouldbe implemented. It also presents a concrete design example. Chapter 10details the many issues of VPN clients, some similar to VPN gateways andsome different. Chapter 11 presents the needs and approaches for performingcontinued management of VPNs from the viewpoints of both a network anda service. Finally, we discuss the future directions of VPNs in Chapter12 and how important it is to realize that networking is the means, notthe goal, and to look beyond simple connectivity in the networking arena.

How to Read the Book

There are two ways to read this book. For novices, werecommend completing Part I before proceeding to either Part II or PartIII. For readers already knowledgeable in networking and security, eachchapter is self-contained and can be read separately.

Readers are encouraged to read Chapters 4 and 5 togetherto obtain a fuller grasp on the concept of tunneling and IPsec as a layer-threetunneling technology. Similarly, Chapters 6 and 7 deal with authentication,with Chapter 7 exploring public key infrastructures in detail. It is alsoa good idea to review how a certain technology is introduced in Part IIbefore seeing how it is applied to a VPN solution in Part III.

Ruixi Yuan
Tim Strayer

Boston, Massachusetts
March 2001

0201702096P04242001

Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0201702096
• ISBN 13: 9780201702095
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 317