Networks of the 21^st Century

Communications in the world two decades ago would not even be recognizable by today’s standards, especially in the business world. Businesses today not only deal with local or regional concerns, but many face network problems and logistics in global markets. How do these multinational corporations maintain fast, secure and reliable global communication networks? Historically, companies used leased lines to support a wide area network (WAN). This digital or optical network, offered companies a means to expand private networks beyond their geographic areas. A WAN is superior to public networks, such as the internet, in reliability, speed, performance, and security. But leasing lines has become tremendously expensive and costs rise accordingly to distances between offices. Now, as the popularity of the Internet has grown exponentially, businesses have turned back to it as a means of extending company networks. The intranet was first created as password-protected sites designed for employee use only. This has evolved into the virtual private network (VPN) to accommodate the needs of remote employees and distant offices (refer to the link for a diagram of VPNs).

A VPN is a private network (intranet) that uses a public network (internet) to connect distant users together. Instead of using a leased line, physical real-world connection, a VPN uses “virtual” connections routed or redirected from the internet via the company’s private network. VPNs are complicated networks that are maintained within almost every major corporation today. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year in order to provide secure, reliable, and scalable network systems. The business world would come to a halt without these reliable networks. I first encountered the massive scope and benefit of these networks last summer during a typical day at work when my computer decided to give me a hard time as it often likes to do. Unable to access a database network, I called tech support which was located in a different building in who knows where. Within minutes, the technician had remotely accessed my computer and like magic my mouse pointer started to move seemingly on its own. He promptly located the problem in the network and I was back in business.

For more on VPNs, its security features, and what makes a VPN click on link:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/vpn.htm