VPN Technology Comparison

21st Century Secure Networking

Companies looking to implement a Virtual Private Network (VPN) have to analyze a number of factors to determine which VPN solution meets their needs. That can be a difficult task, especially for those unfamiliar with the relative merits and capabilities of Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) when used as part of a VPN solution.

NetPilot Internet Security has partnered with NeoAccel, the developer of 3rd Generation of VPNs. NeoAccel's SSL VPN-Plus solution provides secure information sharing for IP communication over Internet or layer 3/layer 2 MPLS VPN or any other means of connectivity while delivering applications to users at fastest speed whilst reducing the operating cost of the application and network.

Below we compare and contrast MPLS and SSL VPN and explain the technology and application of SSL VPN-Plus solution to protect data over the Internet and MPLS VPNs. Specifically we will explore the SSL VPN advantages over MPLS in following areas:

• Security
• Availability of Service
• Support for different communication models
• Reliability
• Quality of Service (QoS) and Class of Service (CoS)

The Three Definitions or Distinctions of VPNs

At the most basic level, all VPNs serve the same purpose — they permit organizations to securely share data with key stakeholders. This includes:
• Sharing a particular subset of data with all stakeholders
• Sharing all data with a particular subset of stakeholders
• Sharing a particular subset of data with a particular subset of stakeholders.

Below are the three fundamental types of VPNs and the stakeholder groups that can benefit:
• Intranet — employees at fixed locations (HQs, branch offices, small offices/home offices, etc.)
• Remote Access — employees “on the go” (telecommuters, mobile users, business travelers, etc.)
• Extranet — key business partners (suppliers, distributors, resellers, etc.)

Multi Protocol Label Switching ( MPLS) based VPNs

MPLS was originally developed as a technology called Tag Switching to address performance differences between Layer 2 devices (switches) and Layer 3 devices (routers). This difference between switches and routers evaporated as hardware technology evolved. With the advent of wireless switches and routers, MPLS's value of compensating for performance differences by adding labels between Layer 2 and Layer 3 was greatly diminished.2

Some service providers are now using MPLS to tunnel IP packets across different legacy and new network infrastructures. These networks may not be able to communicate with one another directly, so MPLS allows service providers to maximize their investments in existing capital equipment by creating one network from many.
MPLS also provides additional traffic engineering mechanisms such as control and path calculation. The practical use of these tools is to modify the traffic flow on a provider's backbone (see the QoS and CoS section below). Unfortunately, much market hype has led people to believe that MPLS provides differentiated CoS on an IP-enabled network, which is definitely not the case. MPLS is not a CoS mechanism and was not designed as such. In fact, MPLS lacks the capability to provide quality assurance or CoS. Instead it relies on additional protocols such as DiffServ or Class Based Weighted Fair Queuing (CBWFQ) to provide CoS.

Comparison of SSL VPN-Plus versus Older Technologies

NeoAccel's SSL VPN-Plus overcomes the performance, scalability and application-access constraints that limit all other SSL VPN technologies. It redefines remote access solutions delivering “Plus” functionalities using SSL technology with a new approach. Plus is an abbreviation for “Performance”, “Least management”, “Ubiquitous Access” and “Secure Everything”. SSL VPN-Plus incorporates patent pending technologies ICAATM, TSSL and ATCE.

SSL VPN-Plus solves the fundamental problem of WAN encryption and avoids TCP/IP bottlenecks when running applications over high loss networks like WLANs and Internet. SSL VPN-Plus is a dedicated secure remote access and network access control device, which can scale to your company's future technology requirements and remote access needs.

The NetPilot SSL VPN-Plus implementation increases ROI on network infrastructure by delivering applications simply and securely to remote users working from any network using any device. For the first time the costs and complexities of deploying multiple secure transport technologies i.e. SSL, MPLS and IPSec can be avoided. In the evolving world of cloud computing every user is a remote user, and only SSL VPN-Plus provides the performance, low cost and minimal management overhead required for successful implementation of 21st Century secure

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