IPsec VPN  – Quick and easy site to site communication

Quick to implement, flexible, and secure, Point to Point IPsec VPN’s represent the simplest, and least intrusive, way to connect two or more remote locations, when scalability and high throughput are not the primary concerns.

IPsec leverages powerful encryption algorithms in order to protect your data as it passes over the public internet.

Key Benefits of Spitfire Point to Point VPN’s

• Secure
• Fast implementation
• Little to no reconfiguration required on your equipment
• Ideal for low or medium bandwidth site to site communications

IPSec Requirement

For a powerful VPN solution you need a powerful router, Spitfire use the Cisco ISR G2 series of routers for our point to point VPN offerings*.  A pair of these routers, combined with any two of our business broadband or Ethernet circuits, and you have all you need to create a secure connection between two sites.

IPSec explained

What is it?

IPSec is not a protocol in itself, but rather an umbrella term for a suite of protocols that, when combined, secure traffic at the IP layer. The ultimate aim is to simulate the functionality you would get from connecting two remote locations by a single (potentially very long) cable.

How does it work?

A dialogue is initiated between the two ends of the point to point link, they negotiate the initial security settings, and exchange authentication information, either in the form of digital certificate or, more commonly, a pre-shared key.

When authentication has been successful a tunnel is established between the routers. Traffic sent over this tunnel is encrypted using one of a number of pre-defined cryptographic algorithms. This makes the contents unreadable to anyone that intercepts the traffic.

Why do you need it?

A VPN allows you share resources between sites seamlessly. With a VPN everything available to you in your head office could potentially be available to your branch office as well. IPsec gives you the added peace of mind from knowing your data is secure as is traverses the internet.

*Please note certain routers may require an additional licence in order to enable VPN functionality.

Are IPsec VPN’s right for you?

IPsec VPN’s are perfect for small scale deployments with only a one or two remote sites, or as an interim solution when migrating to other technologies such as MPLS.

IPsec relies on processor intensive cryptographic algorithms in order secure data transmission; as such the throughput of a VPN is often lower than normal maximum throughput of your hardware. IPsec VPN’s also incur larger transmission overheads, reducing the efficiency of this type of VPN connection.

If performance, large scale real time communications, or scalability are driving factors in you VPN deployment, then an MPLS VPN may be the better technology for you.