Reference no: EM132378244

PN Implementation Planning

The step of planning for the implementation of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the determination of scope. Next comes the establishment of an effective schedule. The assessment schedule should be prioritized. Next comes the identification as well as gathering of the required tools as well as the skills. It will help to identify and thereby analyze the importance of the VPN implementation for the fulfillment of the purpose. After the above-mentioned steps, come to the actual planning step and hence a plan for the VPN implementation is created. The system documentation is reviewed and it consists of the documents' review of the system configuration as well as the system log files. It helps to determine the expected capabilities as well as security configuration of the VPN (Stewart, 2010). Next step is the identification of the target system and thereby analyze its suitability for the Virtual Private Network. This leads to the validation of the existing and probable vulnerabilities. The findings of the validation also need to be reviewed as a part of the plan. After the said steps, a final report is created. There is a no-compliance cause for any sort of vulnerability of security threat.

Best Practices of VPN Implementation

The best practices of the VPN implementation are authentication, latency and split tunneling. For authentication, it can be said that VPN can be considered as the gateway between a user's system and the Internet. So, the network is secured as much as the VPN. To ensure security of the VPN, effective practices of authentication are extremely critical throughout the infrastructure of the security. So, the security measures should be carefully adopted and practiced. When it comes to latency, VPN works seamlessly if it is configured properly. It should not interfere with the user's experience (Difaa & Azouazi, 2013). Once authenticated, its presence cannot be identified. For configuring the VPN clients, the employees have either full tunnels or split tunnels. When it comes to a split tunnel, if the destination lies within a private company's network, the traffic will be forced to travel via VPN. So, the traffic of the corporate intranet is separated from that of the private use of Internet with the help of a split tunnel.

Online remote VPN solutions, DMS, extranet, and intranet VPN solutions

An online remote-access VPN is known to allow every individual user towards the establishment of secure connections with the help of a remote computer network. The users of the said computer network can access the resources that are secured particularly on the indicated network. It seems that they are plugged into the servers of the network directly. DMS leads to total confidence together with instant accessibility. DMS helps a company while it faces certain challenges in terms of securing private data of the customers. It also helps the customers to access physical as well as digital information easily and serves as an affordable way to enhance communication. Intranet VPNs are used to link various departments and branches of a company with the help of a shared infrastructure that uses devoted connections (Timotijevic, Leung & Schormans, 2004). It can be considered as a leased line which provides the benefits of extended connectivity as well as reduced cost. Extranet VPNs are used to link the external stakeholders to a corporate intranet with the help of a shared infrastructure that also uses devoted connections. E-commerce is generally facilitated by extranet VPN.

Implementing a VPN can be a complicated process. Companies need to know what they need, where they need it, and why they need it to get the job done right. IBM, for example, takes a four-step approach when implementing VPNs to achieve the best results possible and ensure companies get the setup they need.

The first step is to evaluate a company's strategy. What is the goal the company hopes to achieve through the use of a VPN? It may be growth, cost reduction, application enablement, or a combination of those things. Knowing the strategic foundation and the priorities of a company is the first step in successfully implementing a VPN.(Joyce,2002)

The second step is to assess the company's architecture. Are there standards in place that govern network design and product selection? Determine how the company is set up, what areas need to use the VPN, how much security is in place already or how much more is needed.

When designing a VPN you need to consider the structure of a company. Is there a clearly defined headquarters or are offices distributed and fully meshed? Does the company require connections from branch offices to headquarters only, or is branch-to-branch communication necessary as well? Do remote offices or remote users, require access to Internet sites and secure corporate Web sites simultaneously? Security concerns such as firewall placement will also come into play. Overall, the architecture dictates the design based on the strategy.

Finally, after all of this, it's time to think about the implementation. There are quite a number of equipment options available. Be sure you know what features you need before you start comparing platforms. After the hardware and software have been chosen, companies then need to think about the implementation and management of their new VPN, the process and tools needed, and whether they have what it takes or whether they'll need to farm it out. The management costs of a VPN are often overlooked, especially when dealing with a large number of remote users (or remote sites).

VPN Best Practices

Now, we can't just install a VPN and expect it to work perfectly. We need to follow some best practices to have the safest and most seamless experience.

Authentication

First and foremost, if your VPN is the gateway between your network and the Internet, then your network is only as secure as your VPN. Well-known VPN providers offer security that is as good as it's going to get, but they are still only as secure as your authentication practices.

Latency

When configured properly, a VPN can work seamlessly, without impacting the end user's experience. Ideally, after authenticating, your employees will hardly notice its presence. However, the act of routing all traffic through an intermediary third party does have some unavoidable effects.For starters, latency is guaranteed to increase. (Latency is the round-trip time to send data and get a response back.) How much it will increase depends on your distance from the VPN provider.(Rose,2017)

Split Tunneling

There are conventionally two ways for employees to have their VPN clients configured. Those are "full tunnels" and "split tunnels." In a full tunnel, all network traffic is forced to go through the VPN provider, regardless of that traffic's destination. In a split tunnel, traffic will only be forced to go through the VPN if the destination is inside the private company network. A split tunnel thereby separates corporate intranet traffic from private Internet use. But, by allowing split tunneling, you abandon many of the security benefits we've described above.