1. What Is A VPN?
A virtual private network (VPN) is a private network, which extends over a public network enabling users to use shared or public networks while benefiting from the security of a private network. For example, using a VPN you could access your office intranet while using a Wi-Fi hotspot at an airport.
A VPN gives you security and privacy by using mechanisms that establish secure and encrypted connections over a public network. Although encryption is common, it’s not a necessary part of a VPN connection.
2. What Are The Different Categories Of VPNs?
VPNs can broadly be divided into business VPNs and consumer VPNs. Both these VPNs work similarly, creating an encrypted connection with a remote network. The primary goal of a virtual private network is to prevent web traffic containing personal information or sensitive data from being exposed to the public internet. The difference between the VPNs lies in their use.
Consumer VPN
Commercial or Consumer VPN connects the user to a remote server, which interacts with the Internet on the user’s behalf. It is generally used to bypass geographically blocked content, to connect to proxy servers, or to ensure anonymity and privacy on the Internet.
Business VPN
Business VPN is used to provide secure access to corporate applications and resources to branch offices and remote users. VPNs are also used by companies to create a single shared network between multiple office locations. For example, you could connect the local area network (LAN) of one office location with that of another through a VPN, thus creating a kind of wide area network (WAN).
3. Why Is VPN Important For Business?
Using a VPN is essential for businesses because it ensures security with mobility. It allows remote users and mobile employees to securely access company resources such as a corporate intranet, applications, databases, etc. from anywhere as long as they are connected to the Internet. And while your employees remotely connect to your company resources, the VPN technology protects your company’s infrastructure from unauthorized access and snooping by using security measures such as advanced encryption and authentication protocols.
VPN is very handy for your mobile employees such as sales and services teams as well as remote employees as it allows them to easily access company resources using any high-speed internet connection, helping them work efficiently and securely while they work remotely.
4. What Are The Benefits Of A VPN
If you have read our previous blog about different types of computer networks, you may be wondering why can’t you create a WAN using a leased line instead of using a VPN. That’s a good idea but it may not be appropriate here because VPN has the following benefits:
1. Cost Saving
Dedicated WAN links using leased lines are expensive. Using a VPN you can utilize the Internet as a medium to connect remote users and offices in a cost-effective way.
2. Mobility
Leased line WAN links are site-to-site. So it will connect your offices but remote employees working from home or mobile employees such as sales and services teams won’t benefit from it. The mobility provided by VPN is unbeatable here.
3. Scalability
Since VPNs leverage third-party infrastructure, i.e. the Internet provided by internet service providers (ISPs), it is easy to add or remove users without impacting your bandwidth.
5. What Are The Different Types Of Business VPNs?
VPNs can be broadly classified into two types:
1. Remote Access VPN
A remote access VPN works by creating a “virtually private,” connection between an organization’s network and a remote user. It has two main components:
A dedicated server, a network access server, or a software application on a shared server connected to the organization’s internal network.
A VPN client, i.e. a software application installed on the user’s computer or mobile device.
When the user activates their VPN client, it establishes a tunnel to the network access server. The traffic in this tunnel is encrypted, hence unintelligible to eavesdroppers. Therefore, data can be transmitted over the Internet without the fear of it being intercepted or tampered with.
2. Site-To-Site VPN
A site-to-site VPN is one which creates a single virtual network between two or more networks, for example, the connection between the LANs of a corporate headquarter and a branch office. In this type of virtual private network, each connected network locally hosts the VPN client. This allows each user to access the shared virtual network without the need to install the VPN client on their devices. However, it also means that they won’t have mobility as they lose access if they leave the office network.
6. How To Choose The Right VPN
Here’s a list of VPN features to consider when choosing one for your business:
1. Ease Of Management
As a business, you would want a centrally managed modular solution that will have a low administration and operational cost. You should be able to easily manage the VPN clients and connections on all the diverse mobile devices that your employees use. You also need to decide how you are going to manage your encryption keys as this may impact your security and compliance requirements.
2. Activity Monitoring And Management
Simply deploying a VPN can decrease your remote employees’ efficiency. This is because bandwidth constraints and security threats can cause network congestion, unnecessarily slowing down your remote network traffic. With activity monitoring and management, you can identify usage with high bandwidth consumption, track destination URLs, and block unwanted traffic. This will also come in handy for VPN capacity planning and also in monitoring failed login attempts and other network security anomalies.
3. Logging And Privacy
VPN logging means keeping a record of VPN usage. So your VPN service provider could access all your internet activity through those logs. Although most reputed VPN service providers will not access or sell your internet usage data, you still need to be sure of that. You can find information about your VPN provider’s logging activities in their privacy policy. On the other hand, you should also check if you need logging as part of any security audits or compliance requirements.
4. Tech Support
Like any other piece of technology, your virtual private network will also require technical support. You need to consider if you have the in-house expertise to troubleshoot VPN connection issues or if your outsourced tech support can handle them. These should be your primary options because you can’t wait a day or two for resolution while your employees are unable to connect to the necessary resources. It is also worthwhile to consider if you need 24x7 support or support on weekends. If you are not likely to use support after hours, you shouldn’t pay extra for 24x7 support.
So Which VPN Is Right For Your Business?
As a business, giving your employees access to geo-blocked content isn’t going to be your priority, rather you’d be more concerned about encryption and management. There’re plenty of VPN options available and it’s just a matter of understanding how to match the features with your business needs.
If you just want to connect your different office locations into one large network, you will need a site-to-site VPN but if you want your remote employees to be able to access company resources, you will need a remote access VPN. Therefore, the answer, similar to most IT-related questions, is it depends; it depends on what you need your VPN to do. Once you choose and deploy a VPN, you are likely to stick with it for some time. So choose wisely and if you are in doubt, it is always a good idea to consult an expert.
If you liked the blog, please share it with your friends
About The Author
Hari SubediMarketing Manager at Jones IT
Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, Small Business, and Mindfulness. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.