The Internet has firmly entered the life of the layman. Communication according to interests, meeting new people, gaining additional skills and knowledge, searching for the necessary information - all this is just the beginning of a long list of what you can do online.
Internet yesterday and today
Fifteen years ago, no one could even imagine how much we would become attached to the global web. A new disease has appeared - Internet addiction, which is also being treated by recently appeared specialists. A previously unknown vast market opened up. The horizons for marketing and advertising have expanded. Knowledge and technology have become available like never before. What are people doing online today? Someone publishes interesting thoughts in a blog format, someone runs a business, and someone goes through online training at a prestigious university. Everyone has their own interests, but there are general concepts and phenomena that almost any user has come across sooner or later. These are viruses and spyware, security software and proxies, social networks, VPN. It is about the latter that will be discussed in the article.
What is a VPN?
A VPN is a network within a network. An additional connection that is created on top of an existing one. Most often, this is a separate space inside the Internet, an island of secure information in an ocean of free access. What is the difference between a zone or a VPN tunnel? First of all, the fact that only authenticated users who have previously been added to the list of VPN service clients have access to it. In addition, all traffic inside is transmitted in encrypted form and is not accessible from the outside. And VPN provides anonymity and helps bypass proxy settings, if any. Of course, everyone would like security, which means this service is quite in demand. The law of the market, which states that due to growing demand, the number of offers is still in force, is therefore the choice of service providers is very wide. But we will consider the general by the example of the particular. Configuring OpenVPN, a fairly popular tunneling solution, will be a model for working with the technology as a whole.
Benefits
First of all, it should be noted that OpenVPN, unlike its paid counterparts, is distributed freely. At the same time, the program has full functionality. An anonymous and secure tunnel can even be created from the office with a corporate firewall.
The undoubted advantage of OpenVPN client-server implementation is the simplified process of installing the application. A successful installation does not require deep knowledge or special skills. You don’t even have to get used to the new operating system, because OpenVPN is also available for Windows. The second decisive advantage of the program is the minimization of costs. No need to buy a license or specialized equipment. You do not need a powerful server - an ordinary personal computer is enough. If you have not yet decided on the choice of software for the VPN channel, it makes sense to try the free stable and convenient software from James Jonan.
OpenVPN: client setup
Usually, services of such a plan are usually deployed on * nix-systems: Gentoo, CentOS, Ubuntu, etc. However, in the case of OpenVPN (especially with the client part), it doesn’t matter to us whether Ubuntu is installed on the computer where OpenVPN will be configured Whether Windows 7: at least the initial steps will not be much different. For convenience, we will choose a fairly common, familiar and convenient OS from Windows. The distribution package of the program can be easily found in the public domain. Download the latest version of the OpenVPN client to the computer, run the installer and agree in turn with everything that he recommends. In the window for selecting components, check the boxes necessary. After the installation is complete, it makes sense to additionally install the OpenVPN GUI user interface, which will greatly facilitate the process of setting up and further managing the client. For correct operation, OpenVPN must be launched in compatibility mode. To achieve this, you just need to check the properties of the shortcut. This completes the process of deploying a VPN client. It remains only to get from the administrator a file with keys and certificates, as well as a configuration file for your connection.
The next step is to configure the OpenVPN server. Windows supports not only the client, but also the server part of the application.
OpenVPN Server on Windows
The server side of OpenVPN is installed in the same way as the client: download the distribution package and agree with the proposal one by one. But here you yourself will act as an administrator. Accordingly, you will need to make changes to the configuration file, generate keys and certificates yourself. But do not be afraid: setting up an OpenVPN server on Windows is not an impossible task, it applies even to beginners. Operations are performed through the command line. The exact text of the commands can be found in any OpenVPN installation guide. If everything is done correctly, the state of the new virtual adapter created in the system after installing the VPN server will change from “Cable is not connected” to “Connected”. In the adapter properties, you will see the configured internal network address.
OpenVPN outside the computer
We have examined with you options for deploying the client and server side of OpenVPN to the Windows operating system. Given the cross-platform nature of the program, it can also be installed on other versions of the OS (Debian, Linux Mint, etc.). What else, besides a stationary computer, can act as a client or VPN server? They can serve as NAS NAS. Having activated the service of the server we are considering there, you can connect the VPN client directly to the drive. Most routers also support OpenVPN. With the rapid development of information technology, all modern devices are produced as functional as possible. This is not just a printer, but a 3 in 1 combining a scanner and a copy machine. This is not only a mobile phone, but also a camera, player, GPS-navigator, QR-code reader and much more. If the built-in functionality is not enough, constantly updated content of application stores will help expand the capabilities of handheld devices. Therefore, it is not unusual to choose a new field of activity for installing OpenVPN. Windows is already a completed stage, now we will talk about the Mikrotik router.
Deploy OpenVPN on Mikrotik
Despite the fact that bold experiments are always welcome, the result sometimes does not meet the expectations and aspirations. It also happens that by combining different technologies, you can achieve the exact opposite of what was expected. In the case of Mikrotik, of course, there will be no serious disappointments, but some functionality reduction still takes place. For example, UDP transport is not available on the router. But, unlike a computer, on the Mikrotik router it is enough to import ready-made files of certificates and keys, and then run the wizard without the command line. Settings are not difficult: you need to register a range of addresses for VPN clients, enable the "OpenVPN server" function. Mikrotik, the setup of which does not take much time, is in no way inferior in stability to the VPN server on the computer. The only thing to keep in mind is the order of permissive and prohibitory rules, which is the same for all devices that perform the firewall function.
A bit about VPN servers instead of concluding
There is a saying that not a single technology will gain wide recognition until an ordinary user or system administrator can easily install it. It is desirable that this be within the framework of one wizard, where you just need to click on the "Next" button. In reality, each product will have its own fans, regardless of what actions have to be taken before direct use. Configuring OpenVPN for Windows requires a command line, but it is not particularly difficult. While the built-in tools of the operating system or some individual solutions are really installed and configured in a few clicks of the mouse. But over 12 years, OpenVPN did not disappear, but continued to develop, and still remains a sought-after product, high-quality and non-whimsical.