Virtual Private Networks
By extending the user network with a satellite VPN, the control of remote sites can be centralized.
A virtual private network is a secure point-to-point or multipoint solution that provides dedicated links and bandwidth between different areas. It is an IP-based solution that provides partially mesh or star topology in which each remote station can communicate with the others through a central hub (double or single hop).
Virtual Private Networks (VPN’s) are an integral component of most corporate networks and it would be only natural that one would wish to extend the reach of the corporate VPN offshore
such an approach would be quite workable and most commercially available VPN implementations will operate seamlessly.
A large data overhead (20-40%) is inherent in the implementation of a VPN but for a conventional terrestrial broadband network connection such overhead has little or no impact on either cost or performance. However, when using a mobile satellite-based network connection this overhead can have an adverse effect on both cost and performance resulting in higher costs and reduced bandwidth.
Consideration should therefore be given to provision of a leased or dedicated connection between the shore-based corporate network and the Teleport and connecting remote offshore users to the shore-based corporate network by assigning a static private IP address to each vessel on the network.
Such a configuration will remove the requirement for a VPN client on the vessel and hence eliminate the overhead associated with the use of the VPN, while maintaining the integrity and security of the entire corporate network