The VPN at Lehigh (Virtual Private Network)

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a computer network that uses the internet to provide remote users or offices secure access to an organization’s network.   

Using VPN software from off campus allows a user to access the resources of Lehigh’s local network such as the user’s H: drive or the departmental I:drive.  This access is possible because VPN software places the user’s computer directly on Lehigh’s network; the computer appears to be on campus.

VPNs also have the added benefit of using a secure tunneling protocol. This protocol prevents other users on the internet from accessing data that is transmitted back and forth from a client computer to a private network (such as Lehigh’s network). 

There are two methods of routing traffic though the Lehigh network using the VPN.  One is to allow all traffic to pass through Lehigh’s network tunnel.  The second is called split tunneling;  only Lehigh traffic passes through the tunnel, while other traffic such as web browsing or viewing videos on Youtube goes through the user’s home internet service provider. 

Split tunneling identifies the resource a user wants to access and directs its network traffic accordingly.  For example, the user who needs access to a departmental LAN drive would be directed through the private network; the user accessing Amazon.com would be directed outside the private network.  

Split tunneling minimizes the VPN-originated traffic on Lehigh’s internal networks.

Lehigh clients have been using a VPN (vpn.lehigh.edu) for years to securely access campus resources from home, on the road and other remote locations.  

The current VPN setup at Lehigh enables users to connect to the Lehigh network from a remote computer through the use of a built-in VPN client that is part of the Windows Operating System or Macintosh and Linux.  

The new VPN client employing split tunneling will be released in the near future once it is fully tested with Lehigh systems and documentation is updated and distributed.  To learn more about the new VPN and be part of our client testing see http://www.lehigh.edu/lts/test/vpndoc.html .

-- Gale Fritsche
  
Article posted November, 2010

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