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Each ViPNet network node automatically creates one or more (depending on the number of network adapters) virtual IP addresses for every ViPNet network node connected to it. These virtual addresses don't depend on real addresses and are defined by unique identifiers of the network nodes.
Each network node has its own list of virtual IP addresses. All network-capable applications may use these addresses when connecting to the corresponding systems. The ViPNet driver replaces the addresses when sending or receiving IP packets (including protocols for services like DNS, WINS and NetBIOS).
A network node uses virtual IP addresses to arrange network interaction with network nodes that work through NAT devices (including coordinator) and use private IP addresses. A network node will automatically use the real IP address if the network node switches places and receives a public IP address (this often happens with mobile users).
This technology is irreplaceable when connecting network nodes (with IP address conflicts) from different sub-nets. This situation is becoming increasingly common because more and more devices (wireless, xDSL and other) are forcing local systems to use standard, private addresses like 192.168.*.*. Virtual addresses allow you to solve this problem.
Another case for using virtual IP addresses can occur if you try to create access rules based on virtual IP addresses. It is common knowledge, however, that this is a possible security threat because IP addresses can be faked if this address is used for identification. However it's impossible to do this in the ViPNet network. When receiving IP packets from the network, the ViPNet driver passes this packet to the application after replacing the original packet address with the corresponding virtual IP address. However, this will only happen if the packet can be decrypted using the private keys of the sender. This provides security against address fraud as well as identifying the user.
The starting address for the virtual IP address generator can be changed in the Settings - Advanced Settings window. The pre-defined starting address is 11.0.0.1 (Subnetmask: 255.0.0.0).
The first four bytes of a tunnelled address is always incremented by one (this results in the default starting address being: 12.0.0.1).
© 2007 Infotecs