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VPN FAQ

PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 3:20 pm
by Ark
I would prefer it if topics here stayed about GIT and not about VPN since this is not a forum about VPNs, but here is little a comparison between GIT and VPNs:

Similarities:
Both tunnel traffic from one LAN to another.

Differences.
VPN uses encryption to ensure privacy. GIT does not, to maximize speed.
VPN does not typically tunnel broadcast traffic. GIT can.
VPN does not tunnel IPX traffic. GIT can.
VPN tunnels all traffic. GIT can be configured to tunnel only selective traffic based on port numbers or unicast vs broadcast.
VPN forces private LAN addresses and helps configure a NAT-like environment. GIT does not - GIT can work without private IPs but will not help you set up a LAN if that is required to get what you want from GIT. Some situations may require you set up LANs the way VPN would result in order to best use GIT (same subnet and no IP conflicts accross all physical networks).

PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:55 am
by HeiDiDo
Hi Arc,

just one Question about the Difference between VPn an GIT:

Why do u think Speed will be better, if you not encrypt the Files.

We discussed that in another Forum and conclusion was, that this is wrong (if u dont have a verry slow PC).

Arguments:
If u have DSL and u play Online, the Game should have max. 16 kb/s Traffic, otherwise (if more) u cant play it over DSl.

If u use Open VPN with Blowfish (on an Pentium M 1,5 Ghz - Load) Speed will be 50.000 KB/s.
A Game having 16 KB/s Traffic will just need 0,032% CPu Usage.

100 % Auslastung = 50.000 KB/s
x % Auslastung = 16 KB/s

x = 0,032 % CPU-Auslastung


We dont think, that this will have an Effekt on Speed.

Please correct us, if we are wrong.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:00 am
by Ark
A bigger factor may be the latency introduced as well. Even using the simple ZLib compressing with GIT (and still no encryption) will likely introduce some latency. For games, it is likely you want the absolute lowest latency possible, even if its only by a small amount. It is also unneccessarily confusing to have to set up two programs to get things to work, since VPN doesn't tunnel the crucial broadcast traffic.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:20 am
by HeiDiDo
VPN doesn't tunnel the crucial broadcast traffic


Open VPn does, but i think GIT is the better Solution, because it was written explicit for playing Network Games over the Internet. So the Support for Games will be better here i think.

Thx for writing that Tool. Hope it will become more public soon. I announced it in some Forum i often visit.

Re: VPN FAQ

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:27 am
by truman
Just nitpicking - VPN (IPsec, SSL or hybrid) do not require encryption. IPsec VPN can be setup to do just tunneling, ie without encryption and without authentication. Also nearly all VPN products support so-called traffic selectors that are used for narrowing down tunneled traffic down to L3 protocols and/or TCP/UDP port numbers. Thridly, private addressing is not required by VPN either, though it's an artefact of a typical deployment scenario.

IPX and broadcast support would be two major differences between GIT and traditional VPN. And that's what matters for gaming.