A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices connected by communications channels that facilitates communications among users and allows users to share resources with other users. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. This article provides a general that is layered on top of an underlying computer network. The private nature of a VPN means that the data travelling over the VPN is not generally visible, or is encapsulated In computer networking, encapsulation is a method of designing modular communication protocols in which logically separate functions in the network are abstracted from their underlying structures by inclusion or information hiding within higher level objects from, the underlying network traffic. Similarly, the traffic within the VPN appears to the underlying network as just another traffic stream to be passed.
In more technical terms, the link layer In computer networking, the Link Layer is the lowest layer in the Internet Protocol Suite, the networking architecture of the Internet . It is the group of methods or protocols that only operate on a host's link. The link is the physical and logical network components used to interconnect hosts or nodes in the network and a link protocol is a protocols of the virtual network are said to be tunneled Computer networks use a tunneling protocol when one network protocol encapsulates a different payload protocol. By using tunneling one can (for example) carry a payload over an incompatible delivery-network, or provide a secure path through an untrusted network through the underlying transport network.
The term VPN can be used to describe many different network configurations and protocols. As such, it can become complex when trying to generalise about the characteristics of a VPN. Some of the more common uses of VPNs are described below, along with more detail about the various classification schemes and VPN models.
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AT&Twould provide Virtual Private Network service for Republic Services' 759-site domestic Wide Area Network environment consisting of corporate ...
AT&T awarded contract by Republic Services Trading Markets (press release)
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