Network Access Control For Dummies®

Chapter 5. SSL VPNs

In This Chapter

• Understanding the fundamentals of SSL VPNs

• Comparing NAC with SSL VPNs

• Knowing when to use SSL VPNs rather than NAC

Many SSL VPN (Secure Sockets Layer virtual private network) vendors have repositioned the marketing of their products to claim that they're NAC products. Is there any truth to these claims? Absolutely. However, the devil is in the details. Although SSL VPN products provide many of the same functions that a NAC offering does, most SSL VPN products have been architected with the remote user in mind, whereas most NAC offerings have been architected for the local user — possibly a minor distinction until you account for the differences in experience and throughput expected by end users when they're on the local area network (LAN) as opposed to when they are remote.

Can you use SSL VPNs for a NAC deployment? It depends. In this chapter, we introduce you to SSL VPNs, compare them to traditional NAC products, and then provide an introduction to when and where you can and should use each product.