How do you check if you are securely connected to a remote server? Check the points below to watch out for the communication steps which can be used to achieve this: Most ISP offers a secure way of communications by creating a tunnel between the source and destination network. In other words we know them as tunneling protocols. This may be

1. L2TP (Layer two tunneling protocol with IPSec boosting the connection with IP level security encrypting every packet)
2. PPTP (Point to point tunneling protocol with simple tunnel authentication)

Majority of Enterprises go for the L2TP/IPSec connection as it's more secure and can't be broken apart for anyone to enter inside your corporate network as compared to PPTP which only provide a tunneling authentication with no such IP layer encryption. L2TP/IPSec uses Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) to encrypt any data that passes through the tunnel which is built between networks in two different geographic locations over the internet for the fact that a place like interest is too open for anyone to keep an eye on the target and to crack it. Next morning we hear front page news about somebody getting hacked. L2TP/IPSec connections also allow remote access by user at home using there local ISP. How do you use IPSec tunnels for remote access? Why Set up Secure Remote access clients? There is a need for the enterprises to make sure they setup a secure connection between that individual client and the corporate network over the internet.

1. The Client can be configured manually to connect to the public edge of the corporate network
2. A dialer/connection can be installed using an application interface which when executed, connects the client machine over to the external edge of the corporate network.

Depending upon the method used, once connected, users gets prompted to input the credentials which are then taken next step further and checked with the authentication servers after which the client enters the corporate network and gets the permission to access shared resources locally. An Internet service provider is used for the purpose of connecting client (source) to the destination (corporate network). L2TP is combined with IPSec to provide a simple, efficient way to build the tunnel and protect the data across the Internet. Why setup connection to branch offices with L2TP/IPSec Every large enterprise normally has multiple branch offices and thus requires a secure method of communication between them. For example, a corporate office in London and a sales office in Yorkshire would certainly be connected over L2TP/IPSec, as its the best method available to build a secure Private (Virtual Private Network) tunnel between them which protects the data between the two. They can stay connected persistently in a secure way always. For more information about configuring L2TP-based router-to-router VPN connections make sure you check with your ISP.