[vox-tech] VPN question

[Rod Roark]

I don't know much about Linux VPN support, but I have some
experience with it.  ;-)

To evaluate the scope of the problem you need to find out
what protocol(s) will be used.  While you're at it, find out
what product/vendor they are using, especially as your local
admins might not know what's really happening on the wire.

IPSEC is one popular standard, for which you'd probably want
to look up Openswan at http://www.openswan.org/ (I used its
precursor, FreeS/WAN, a couple of years ago).

-- Rod

On Monday 27 September 2004 03:45 pm, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> I was given a laptop by the college I work at (well, loaned, actually).  It
> had Windows XP on it.  I just did a Debian net install on it, but it was
> really exhausting hearing people say:
> 
>    * You realize we won't support it, right?
> 
>    * It's against school policy to install your own software.
> 
>    * How are you going to check mail?  Read Word documents?  See ppt
>       presentations?
> 
> over and over and over.  I felt like Linux was a dirty word, and I had to
> smile, be polite and nod my head in agreement for over an hour to placate the
> people at IT.  The coolest person was the dean of IT, Mark, who was totally
> supportive.  Even though he doesn't use Linux himself, he was the only person
> who seemed totally cool to the idea.  I guess that's why he's in charge.  :)
> He's a good guy.
> 
> Anyhow, on to the question.  I'm going to be given access to a VPN.  I know
> nothing about VPNs.
> 
> I'm hoping that there's a VPN protocol, and that it's not some propietary
> thing that I don't have a ghost in hell of connecting to with my home
> computers.  If it's a well known protocol, I'm sure there's a Linux client
> that I can use.
> 
> Is VPN the kind of thing where every implementation is different and it has
> to be reverse engineered on an implementation by implementation basis (like
> parallel port scanners or certain P2P protocols) or is there one VPN protocol
> that uses the same authentication across implementations?
> 
> And if VPN is standardized, what are some clients that people like?
> 
> Thanks,
> Pete