Building better tunnels: Bay Networks plans new end-to-end solution using L2TP

The transport of mission-critical data via the public network is driving demand for secure, guaranteed network access. Virtual private networks are one extension of that demand, and Bay Networks is touting a group of carrier-class products using a forthcoming standard protocol to deliver VPNs.

VPNs allow users to establish secure connections across public networks without buying a full-time, nailed-up connection. Leased-line connections are worthwhile only when they're being used. Companies that need secure connections to transmit data between locations are paying for unused resources when leased lines sit idle. But with VPNs, those companies pay only for the amount of connected time that they need.

Bay's new solution incorporates the new Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) into the company's Versalar Access Switch, BayRS 12.10 and Contivity Extranet Switch. The Versalar Access Switch serves as the tunnel initiator, and the other two devices are tunnel terminators.

L2TP is a successor to point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP) and combines elements of the PPTP and Layer 2 Forwarding protocols.

"Microsoft supported PPTP, and Cisco supported L2F," said Amy Copley, Bay's senior product manager for WAN products. "The desktop and router had different tunneling protocols."

Copley said the new protocol offers an alternative for companies looking to replace leased lines. "Rather than replacing leased lines with frame relay, try a [public switched network] connection over the Internet with tunneling."

Tunneling also offers companies that maintain leased-line or frame relay connections an affordable insurance policy in case the primary private line goes down, Copley said.

A key element in the new solution is that L2TP offers security features previously unavailable in tunneling solutions, Copley said. With L2TP, users can encode the payload. With earlier tunneling protocols, if the tunnel could be breached, the information traveling inside could be easily accessed. The ability to add the extra layer of security by encoding the payload will make VPNs more appealing to customers who must send sensitive information over WANs, Copley said.

The impending ratification of L2TP bodes well for VPNs, said Craig Driscoll, research analyst at The Yankee Group

"L2TP tunneling is extremely important to VPNs being widely incorporated," he said. "VPNs are going to be a significant portion of the access market."

Bay's approach of incorporating the new standard into existing products is a sound strategy to keep established customers and build new business, Driscoll said.

The industry "is driving toward networks where proprietary tunneling is not the best solution," he said. "And by incorporating [L2TP tunneling] into very strong product lines, they can initiate and terminate tunnels."

Bay will provide a software upgrade for L2TP to customers that have service contracts with Bay, and the upgrade will be available to those that own the necessary Bay equipment but do not have service contracts, Copley said.

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