A VPN concentrator is one of the data communication devices that makes the data transfer and communication secure from unethical attacks. You will surely have lots of questions such as what is a VPN concentrator? How does it work and how good it is? Let’s start with the definition.
With the increase of digital use, data security and sensitive information protect has become the very important choice. The Internet has made communication faster but these communications are not fully secure until you take important security steps.
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What is a VPN Concentrator?
It is a networking device that connects several VPN tunnels with a single network. In simple words, it helps to manage multiple VPNs remotely from one device.
Its working is the same as a VPN but this device extends the range of a VPN router and creates VPN tunnels for different persons. For example, if an organization uses a VPN concentrator then its employees can connect securely with it from anywhere in the world. Most military organizations and large cooperations use it to make communication secure.
This hardware device has specific software that manages multiple VPN connections. It stands in front of the network and beneath the firewall. This information will be enough for you to know that what is a VPN concentrator? Let’s see the types.
Types
Most of the concentrators are based on hardware that has a specific limit of VPN connections. There is also software cloud-based concentrated VPNs that need a Virtual machine environment to run. Small and medium organizations that have tight budgets use software with VM (Virtual Machine).
What does a VPN Concentrator do?
In simple words, it works just like a VPN router but adds additional security layers. VPN concentrator manages VPN tunnels. It encrypts & encapsulates data when sent and de-encapsulates & decrypts data when received. This hardware-based device also assigns IP addresses to different users and manages the network communication.
Benefits & Cost
Concentrator VPN is used by large organizations where they have to make the network communication private and secure. It is deployed either after the firewall or in a parallel mechanism to make the connection secure. With this dedicated VPN device, organizations’ employees can contact the VPN from anywhere in the world. Moreover, it also increases the bandwidth limit.
Small organizations will tight budget usually use software-based concentrated VPN which is cloud-based and need a virtual machine to work. On the other hand, large organizations use hardware-based VPN that connects different tunnels and generate different IP addresses for each user. Depending on the need, the price of hardware-based VPN devices has different prices that come up with different performance and features elements.
Best VPN Concentrators
There are lots of concentrator manufacturers that offer this product at different prices with different features. The price of a concentrator depends on the number of supported VPN tunnels and load that they can handle. The popular names are VPN concentrator Cisco, ShoreTel, and Aruba.
- VPN Concentrator Cisco – Cisco concentrators are the most popular in the market. These are easy to deploy and manage. Moreover, Cisco concentrators are suitable for use on large scale.
- ShoreTel – ShoreTel concentrators are, especially for phones. You can secure your telephone network communication by installing a remote telephone IP network.
- Aruba – Aruba concentrators also have a good market share. These are also easy to use and widely used in large cooperations.
Why you should use it?
You have known that what is a VPN concentrator? But, should you use it and what are the advantages that it provides? As we know that the job of a virtual private network or VPN is to make the internet connection secure and protect users from unethical attacks so, a VPN concentrator is also the same but on a large level. It is mainly for companies and organizations who want to keep their data and clients’ communication secure. Compared to the VPN cloud service, it also increases the bandwidth.
It creates different VPN tunnels and assigns different IPs to devices. Concentrator devices handle the data security automatically by encapsulating and encrypting data and decrypt it when it reaches the destination.
VPN Concentrator vs. VPN Router
In simple words. VPN routers are the devices for small level organizations while concentrators are used by large organizations. It is an industrial tool and not for home users. VPN concentrators are comparatively complex because they have to create different VPN tunnels. Anyhow, the working mechanism of both is the same. The limit is only data usage and operating methods.
For a small organization, a VPN router is suitable as it is not as expensive as a VPN concentrator. VPN appliance is another option that you can choose. It provides lots more features but its security protocols are weaker than the VPN router and concentrator.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we talked a lot about what is a VPN concentrator and how does it work. We see VPN concentrator Cisco and other popular brands that offer this hardware device at good prices and functions. Lastly, I would say that this is an important security tool to keep your organization’s data safe and communicate securely. If your budget is tight then you can use a cloud-based service with a virtual machine otherwise go for the hardware option depending on the bandwidth limit and tunnels you need.
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