Site to Site Internet Protocol Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Site to Site Internet Protocol Security - Essay Example In VPN Tunneling technology, all traffic is forced through a secured site. Furthermore, one network is able to send its data via the connection to another network. The implementation of IPSec can take place at the end host or in the routers or even in both depending on the security requirements of the users (Doraswamy & Harkins 2003). With IPSec, any piece of information sent from one site to another remains secured due to the involved extensibility of the Internet Protocol layer. In this study, therefore, we will discuss tunneling, architecture, authentication and the associated standards in attempts to describe IPSec protocol. Of all VPNs, Tunnel Mode is the most commonly used in IPSec implementations Tunneling is the transmission of data intended for use within a private network through the public network. In this case, therefore, data is conveyed by a public network, which is the internet, on behalf of the private network. This is achieved through the protection of IP packets by the IPSec in such a way that the original packets get wrapped, encrypted and a new header added before being sent to the other side of the VPN tunnel (Tiller 2000). Configurations of IPSec VPN tunneling can also be done using Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) Tunnels with IPSec. The GRE is an encapsulation protocol of an arbitrary network layer protocol over another different arbitrary network layer protocol (Javin Technologies 2005). In this protocol, packets known as payloads need to be encapsulated and delivered to some destination. First, the payload is encapsulated in a GRE packet then in some other protocol before being forwarded. The outer protocol is known as a delivery protocol. "Security in a network using GRE should be relatively similar to security in a normal IPv4 network, as routing using GRE follows the same routing that IPv4 uses natively."