What is a VPN?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. A VPN is two or more private networks or computers connected in a secure way, via a public network such as the Internet.

Who would use a VPN and why?

Anyone that want to connect to their business network from a remote location might want a VPN. Any business with more that one office might want to link those offices together over a VPN link.

Until the emergence of VPN technologies companies wish to link offices in a secure manner would have to have resorted to an expensive WAN (Wide Area Network) solution. Due to the insecure nature of the Internet, it has not been considered safe for transferring sensitive business information, which might include bank account details, passwords and confidential internal documents.

Due to the strong encryption and authentication provided by modern VPN protocols, many businesses, large and small are now adopting VPNs as their preferred means of connecting branch offices.

Which applications work over a VPN link?

Any network application that uses TCP/IP or IPX can work over a VPN link. In other words, all modern network applications. So, network file sharing, printer sharing, networked databases, Netmeeting, Email etc. will all work over a VPN connection.

Which VPN Protocols are supported?

FireRack supports IPSEC, PPTP and L2TP VPN protocols. Our IPSEC implementation is a modified version of FreeS/WAN and supports X.509, Preshared Keys and FreeSwan's RSA authentication methods. Our PPTP and L2TP protocols support Microsoft's MS-CHAP authentication in addition to normal PAP/CHAP authentication.

What systems does the FireRack VPN interoperate with?

Any other VPN capable device supporting the same protocols and authentication methods. Specifically FireRack has been tested with

Does FireRack's IPSEC work over NAT?

Yes. Our IPSEC has been patched to support NAT. This feature is new and is a departure from the original IPSEC standard. As yet we have only tested connectivity between FireRack firewalls traversing NAT, although there are other firewalls that support this standard.