[geeks] VPN/Tunneling

[Phil Brutsche]

Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
> I'm not really looking for a VPN management application.  I am looking 
> to see if someone can compare the upsides/downsides of the various 
> *protocols*.  (PPTP, IPIP, GRE, etc.)

Generally the best bet is IPsec.

PPTP -> Pain in the arse to set up using anything but Windows.  IOS
supports it as a server but not a client
IPIP -> No experience, but seems to be quite similar to GRE
GRE -> Not secure - no encryption, no packet authenication, etc
IPsec -> widely understood by admins and operating systems alike,
encryption, packet authentication, can be hard on CPUs especially Cisco.
 In Sridhar's case, some 7505 VIPs have hardware encryption.

-- 

Phil Brutsche
phil at tux.obix.com