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Wide area
networking can benefit nearly any organization by giving users access to
one LAN's resources from another LAN, from a laptop, or from home. Various
solutions have been developed to meet this need, including leased lines
for WAN networking, and direct-dial remote access solutions for users
outside the office. Microsoft's Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP)
offers a VPN with the same features as the other solutions, but uses the
Internet and often has a lower price.
Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a networking technology that
enables a secure, "tunneled" connection over the Internet
between a client system and a remote access server.
For example, a client system with PPTP connects to an Internet Service
Provider, which provides Internet access to a PPTP server attached to both
the Internet and the main office LAN. When the user runs network-aware
applications, such as the Windows 95/98 Explorer, PPTP-enabled remote
access software on the client encrypts the application's messages, and
PPTP
forwards them over the Internet to the PPTP server, where the server
decrypts them and delivers them to the office LAN.
PPTP can be used in place of other technologies, such as long-distance
phone calls or leased lines, which achieve the same goals as PPTP but do
so with different cost structures. In many cases, PPTP's use of
inexpensive Internet access makes it more cost effective than the other
technologies.
PPTP client support is included with Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows NT
Workstation 4.0, Win2K, XP, Windows 95/98 and Windows 3.1 operating
systems. It is also available for Macintosh.
PPTP server and client support are also available on Red Hat Linux from En.Gen
(a Division of J. River, Inc.). The main features of the VPN
technology on Red Hat Linux from En.Gen are:
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