Hi:
What kind of VPN solutions are out 
there besides the classic VPN appliance/client software combo?
I know there
 are SSL VPNs and VPNs where you go to a web portal with your browser 
and enter log on credentials with maybe an RSA token...etc...
Can someone 
give me a good rundown of different solutions that are out there and 
whats needed to support them?
Thanks

Hi,

There are two common types of VPNs.

    * Remote-Access—Also called a Virtual Private Dial-up Network (VPDN), this is a user-to-LAN connection used by a company that has employees who need to connect to the private network from various remote locations. Typically, a corporation that wishes to set up a large remote-access VPN provides some form of Internet dial-up account to their users using an Internet service provider (ISP). The telecommuters can then dial a 1-800 number to reach the Internet and use their VPN client software to access the corporate network.

A good example of a company that needs a remote-access VPN would be a large firm with hundreds of sales people in the field. Remote-access VPNs permit secure, encrypted connections between a company's private network and remote users through a third-party service provider.

    *  Site-to-Site—Through the use of dedicated equipment and large-scale encryption, a company can connect multiple fixed sites over a public network such as the Internet. Each site needs only a local connection to the same public network, thereby saving money on long private leased-lines. Site-to-site VPNs can be further categorized into intranets or extranets.

A site-to-site VPN built between offices of the same company is said to be an intranet VPN, while a VPN built to connect the company to its partner or customer is referred to as an extranet VPN.

As far as my experience better usage is to configure SSL VPN which is one among the best and easy way to implement as it clent less and more secure because the secuirty is from client pc to end device that ssl concentrator.

In ip sec client to site model you need to install software at each clinet with sepcifc vendor software which is taking the ip sec tunnel at one common point.

Hope to Help !!

Ganesh.H

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