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Until
fairly recently, leased lines, ranging
from ISDN (integrated services digital
network, 128 Kbps) to OC3 (Optical
Carrier-3, 155 Mbps) fiber, was the
primary tool used by companies to
expand their private network beyond
its immediate geographic area.
For
example, building a wide-area network
(WAN) had obvious advantages over a
public network like the Internet when
it came to reliability, performance
and security. However, the high costs
of maintaining a WAN, through the use
of leased lines made the telecom
investment prohibitive for most small
businesses.
Fortunately, as the popularity of
the Internet grew many companies are
creating their own VPN (virtual
private network) to accommodate
the needs of remote employees and
distant offices. VPNs are an
affordable alternative because instead
on using a leased line a VPN uses a
public network like the Internet to
establish “virtual connections” to
remote sites or users together.
Some of the
compelling benefits are:
-
Extend
geographic connectivity
-
Improve
security
-
Reduce
operational costs versus
traditional WAN
-
Reduce
transit time and transportation
costs for remote users
-
Improve
productivity
-
Simplify
network topology
-
Provide
global networking opportunities
-
Provide
telecommuter support
-
Provide
broadband networking compatibility
-
Provide
faster ROI (return on investment)
than traditional WAN
Image
courtesy Cisco Systems, Inc..
A
typical VPN might have a main LAN
at the corporate headquarters of a
company, other LANs at remote
offices or facilities and
individual users connecting from
out in the field.
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