Building Linux Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Building Linux Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Ergodebooks.com ReviewA virtual private network (VPN) enables computers to access remote resources--like the mail store on another office's mail server--from a geographically remote location. Rather than access the files over a private (and expensive) wide area network (WAN) link, however, a VPN makes its data transmissions across the open Internet. The magic is in making the communications secure, a critical job that requires a tunneling protocol that implements encryption. Building Linux Virtual Private Networks shows you how to set up VPNs without spending a lot of money, and without compromising ease of use or security. Oleg Kolesnikov and Brian Hatch emphasize network-to-network connectivity--fixed links between sites--rather than network-to-client connections. They show you how to use Linux to build a secure system of permanent--yet virtual--data links. There's coverage, for example, of the PoPToP daemon for handling Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), but there's no coverage of non-Linux clients with which to connect it.There's a nice balance of managerial information (useful for justifying a VPN, and a Linux one in particular, to your boss) and technical details in these pages. Each of the covered packages gets nice documentation, complete with listings of configuration files and explicit statements of console input and output. --David WallTopics covered: Packages designed to enable VPNs between Linux gateways. Software oriented toward standard protocols (PPP-over-SSH, PPP-over-SSL, IPsec, and PPTP) as well as nonstandard ones (VTun, cIPe, and tinc). Lots of coverage goes to FreeS/WAN and ppp-mppe.Building Linux Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) covers the most popular VPN technologies available for the Linux platform. In the early chapters the theory behind VPNs is discussed, including needs and uses. Common network and host configurations are also covered. Subsequent chapters drill down into the implementation and configuration of specific software packages. Specific, detailed instructions are included as well as troubleshooting information. This book will be an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to implement a Linux-based VPN. This book will meet the needs of anyone, from the Linux user to the experienced administrator to the security professional.--Oleg KolesnikovFrom the Back CoverBuilding Linux Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) focuses on showing you how to get your Linux VPN up and running as quickly as possible. You will learn VPN theory and fundamentals and will master important techniques and tools needed to design and set up your VPN in a reliable, secure, and cost-effective fashion.This book offers concise, step-by-step instructions for building VPNs based on both standard protocols (IPsec, SSL, SSH, PPTP) and popular Linux VPN solutions (VTun, cIPe, tinc). Through numerous examples and proven practices, you will gain important insights into choosing a VPN solution, installing and configuring it, setting up routing, configuring firewalls, measuring performance, and much more.About the AuthorOleg Kolesnikov received his B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been doing research in information security at Georgia Tech and the Berkeley Lab, focusing on network security, cryptography, and secure protocols.Bri Hatch is chief hacker at Onsight, Inc. He is the lead author of the bestselling book Hacking Linux Exposed (McGraw Hill) and is the co-maintainer of Stunnel, an open source, secure SSL wrapper used around the world to encrypt cleartext protocols.