Re: VPN

["Bryan J. Smith" <b.j.smith@xxxxxxxx>]

Tj wrote:
> HI
> how do i set up a vpn with madrake and 98 se over cable/dial up
> and if so can there be more then one ip hooked up to the vpn if
> the host is cable

The term "VPN" (virtual private network) is an _extremely_generic_
and _arbitrary_ term.  There are endless ways to setup a "VPN", some
secure, some not -- many with a sense of "false security" as even
Microsoft itself has found out (a home user connected to its network
with a VPN solution and the XP code was swipped as the home user's
system had been compromised).

And even though there is an IETF "standard" for VPN, IPSec, it is
still not complete.  As such, an endless number of vendor-standards
have emerged.

The most popular is CheckPoint's Firewall-1 solution.  CheckPoint is
a software-only solutions company so they can be neutral.  There are
some free/OSS CheckPoint-compatible servers/clients now for Linux. 
Unfortunately, I do not know of a free client for Windows.

Microsoft includes a "Virtual Private Networking Adapter" under
Networking in newer Windows versions.  This is know as Microsoft's
PPTP (point-to-point tunnel protocol).  I know many companies using
this protocol, and most people just blindly used it as it is
included with Windows.  There is even a pptp server daemon for Linux
(as well as client), and a modified ppp daemon that adds Windows
compatibility.

Unfortunately, MS' PPTP implementation is _easily_compromised_.