VPN's Explained

What is a VPN?

So, what is a VPN anyway? VPN is an acronym that stands for "Virtual Private Network". The main purpose of a VPN is to provide secure, remote access to business resources and information from any location at any time. A common example would be an employee accessing information at the office from home using their Internet connection.

Why do I need one?

VPN's are the easiest and cheapest way for employees and external partners to gain access to information around the clock, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Since the Internet never sleeps, employees and partners can conduct business no matter what time of day it is. Users no longer have to wait for the office to open to get to the forms, files, or other information they need to close the deal or provide customer service, or perform other mission-critical tasks.

	VPN's increase employee satisfaction by extending the workplace beyond conventional office walls, thus providing flexible work environments both in terms of location and work hours.
	VPN's can increase productivity, efficiency and create a competitive advantage by creating closer links with employees, partners, suppliers, and customers.
	Through VPN access solutions, remote locations can access information and resources in a timely manner enabling the remote worker to work as if using the LAN at the office.
	Employees can make the most informed up to date decisions possible by giving them real-time access to critical information 24x7.
	Sales personnel, and others who spend a good deal of time "on the road", can always get the information they need to "close the deal".

How does a VPN work?

There are two main types of VPN's, office-to-office and remote access where a person can work from a remote location.

An office-to-office VPN application usually consists of two or more offices that connect through a VPN tunnel over the Internet. This will allow the businesses to share resources such as fileservers, printers, email servers and other network devices. Once the VPN solution is in place, users can securely access and exchange information from any location that has access to the Internet as if they were sitting right in front of the computer at their desk in the office.

These systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to send it through a secured virtual circuit over the Internet. Virtually all aspects of a business can safely take place from remote locations even industries where highly confidential information is critical to their business, such as banking, insurance, law, finance, and health care.

How do I get a VPN?

Feel free to Contact Us to discuss how a VPN can benefit your business.

Blake King
Network Engineer
OnlyInternet.Net Broadband & Wireless Inc.
(800) 363-4881
bking@onlyinternet.net