Understanding VPNs

A VPN is a private, encrypted network connection that crosses the public Internet. Typically, a VPN is used either to connect two office sites or to enable remote computers to access a single office network. In the case of a site-to-site VPN (shown in Figure 6-1), no special configuration is required for the clients. The negotiation of the private connection for these VPNs is performed by the VPN servers at each office, and clients in opposite branches communicate with each other as they would communicate with clients in their own branch.

In a remote access VPN, however, the client running Windows 7 must be configured to negotiate a connection to the VPN server. For this reason, it is only the remote access VPN that is covered on the 70-685 exam. A remote access VPN is shown in Figure 6-2.