We briefly discussed VPN back in Chapter 3, vCloud Air Networking and Security. In this section, we will explore the VPN functionality in more detail (that is, elaborate VPN once).

VPNs are a crucial networking service that enable IT organizations to extend their physical, virtual, and cloud based environments to other off-site datacenters and cloud environments without compromising on security. Using VPNs and IPsec tunnels, IT organizations can now transfer large data over the Internet to remote locations with ease, thus helping in migrating workloads to and from the different environments as required.

VPNs are supported on both ends of a transmission channel by a firewall and/or a special VPN device that restricts any form of data interception from the outside world.

VPNs are created in VMware vCloud Air using the vShield Edge Gateway appliance. Using the Gateway appliance, you can connect to the following networking topologies: