VPPPN

What is VPPPN

VPPPN is a tool for creating VPN connections, the aim of the project is to permit multiple connections and forming of an Internet based virtual private IP network joining many machines in a grid.

You what?

VPPPN means you can have a network (just like an office network) but running on the Internet. You can set it up so you can see other computers in Explorer in Network Neighbourhood. This means you can drag and drop files instead of emailing them, share printers, and do a bunch of other tricks too, such as using netmeeting and secure chats.
A VPPPN network is like having computers on the Internet connected to the same router.

Traditional Virtual Private Networks

A traditional VPN, such as openvpn requires a central server to which all the computers have to connect, as depicted in the following diagram.

All network traffic flows via the central server. VPPPN does not attempt to replace these type of networks and for this type of network openvpn is recommended since it provides a robust secure VPN solution and the project is open source. To setup a network like this you must have a dedicated server on the Internet that is always running with enough bandwidth for all the traffic between all the remote clients.

Virtual Peer to Peer Private Networks

A VPPPN network makes connections directly from computer to computer over the Internet without having to have a central server, as the following diagram shows.

All the network traffic uses a direct connection and is encrypted using standard security mechanisms, similar to SSL.
Since there is no central server there is very little cost to running a VPPPN network so the service can be provided for free.
To setup a VPPPN each computer must install and run the VPPPN client and security information must be exchanged to define who has access to the network.

Project status

Currently VPPPN supports the following features.

Configuring VPPPN on Linux and Windows XP and Vista.
Managing IP allocations.
Creating certificates and keys required for security.
Joining and connecting computers on various types of Internet connections.
Not all types of Internet connections are supported (yet), but common types are supported.
When the Internet connection is not supported automatically the user must configure their home router to permit VPPPN traffic.

System requirements

VPPPN only runs on the following platforms. (for now)