Week Five: Advanced Networking Devices - VPN

Lots of topics were discussed for this week five chapters reading, and the four chapters reading are: TCP/IP Applications, Network Naming, Securing TCP/IP, and Advanced Networking Devices. All the contents or topics provided in each chapter reading played an important role in computer networking. The purpose for this blog is that I will be picking a single topic from one of the four chapters and discuss to the best of my knowledge. Let get started with that being said!

Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

VPN is configurated for secure network communications. VPN hides Internet Protocol (IP) address from could-be hackers, government agencies, corporations, etc. It doesn’t matter if whether you are connected to a VPN in public, your identity will stay always remind protocoled. You put your privacy at risk when connected to a public network because that public network doesn’t have encrypt tunnel, and therefore, has no endpoints. VPN in the other hand has encrypt tunnel, and therefore require endpoints to secure its data (encryption and decryption of data). To successfully set-up a VPN and establish connection between two or multiple devices, all the network devices should all be connected on the same network – this also mean that all the network devices must have the same network ID.

For example: if you were away in another state and wanted to connect onto the computer through your Local Area Network (LAN) at your home office, both your traveling laptop and the computer on the LAN mush have the same network ID. There’s no common way to establish this if you do not have a “VPN software install on your local machine.” Keep in mind that every-time you connect on public network, you are going to be assign with a network ID and an IP address from the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server of the network and not you DHCP server at your local office.

To establish a successful connection from your traveling laptop to the computer at your local office, execute the following.

• Make sure all your devices have the same network ID.
• Install VPN software on your local machines.
• After establishing a connection on a public network, your VPN software will create a virtual Network Interface Card (NIC) on your traveling laptop (which is endpoint one), and then establish a connection on your VPN server at your local office (which is endpoint two), “and then, in essence, create a virtual direct cable from the virtual NIC to the office” (Meyers, 2018. P 391). The virtual cable that was created is refer to as “virtual tunnel.” In the case, your traveling laptop will have two IP (IPv4 or IPv6) addresses – where one is from the DHCP server (the public network) you are connected to and despite the second being local, it will connect with your local office because the “second IP address goes with the virtual NIC.”

Thanks to the evolution and innovation of technology, there are other ways to access personal data without setting-up a VPN. That way is called cloud computing. With secure or non-secure network connection, you can stay access your data as long you have them save in the cloud. But for me personally, I will prefer secure connections as a way to be protected from could-be hackers, etc.

There are few simple steps you can execute to access your cloud data on a secure Internet connection while you are away from your local office. All smart phones today have “Mobile Hotspot and Tethering” (MHT), and you can establish a secure Internet connection by activating your MHT and connecting your traveling laptop.