[pptp-server] ppp or ptpp?

[Nathan Meyers]

On Wed, Aug 09, 2000 at 12:21:37PM -0400, jtoy wrote:
> Hi, I just wanted to make sure of something.  I read the howto/faq a few
> times over and I still have a question.  The ptptd is always running
> over nyour ethernet connecton and then someone login into the poptop
> server right?  Its not that poptop is a RAS server where someone dials
> in right?  Sorry to ask a stupid question, but I see so many references
> to ppp.  And why do I need to download an update for ppp if that is for
> RAS and dialing up?

PoPToP is a server specifically for the PPTP protocol, meaning it
supports the Microsoft-style VPNs that are available on Win32
workstations through Microsoft's free VPN clients.  If you want other
VPN technologies like ipsec, there are other places to get them...
there's no need for PoPToP to grow into a multi-protocol monster :-).

PPTP does its magic by wrapping PPP in another protocol, GRE - that's
why you see all the references. When you've got a PPTP VPN running,
your workstation is talking to the PPTP server using PPP - yes, the
same protocol used for dial-up networking - but this PPP is wrapped
in GRE packets instead of driving a modem. That's why you need current
PPP code.

To make things even more clear (or confusing, depending on your point
of view), Windows manages VPN connections just like modem connections:
you use the same dialogs that you do for managing your dial-up modems.
The difference is that this "modem" is a virtual modem that wraps the
protocol in GRE and pushes the resulting packets out over an existing
Internet connection.

Nathan Meyers
nmeyers at javalinux.net

> Also, do you think poptop will later include other encryption like
> blowfish, ipsec, and des so it is compatible with other VPN standards?
> Please email me back.  Thanks
> --
> Jason Toy
> toyboy at toy.eyep.net
> http://toy.eyep.net
> 
> 
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