[Discussion] VPN - why?

[felmon john davis]

On Wed, 16 May 2007, Esther Schindler wrote:

> A VPN lets you gain access into an organization's network. When  
> you're signed into the VPN, you are inside the firewall. Thus, you  
> can access network drives and run applications that cannot be reached  
> from outside. (And, obviously, those resources *shouldn't* be reached  
> from outside.) In my case, that means that I can run the CIO.com  
> content management system, and I can get to the shared drive where we  
> store the "articles in progress" database.
> 
> But when you log into the VPN, you really _are_ in the remote  
> network.

good explanation! 

at my college I avoid it precisely because it shuts everything else 
down - everything has to go through the vpn.

to get at students' records, online databases from the library, and 
such, you need a vpn connection.

OR: ssh.

now that is a godsend! I log in via ssh, and have full access while 
being able to use my other network connections.

speed-wise I cannot compare.

Felmon
Union College
Schenectady, NY