What is the purpose of a VPN connection?

i have verizon wireless internet %26amp;


there is a buttons beside the connection button that says


"start vpn"


im just wondering what the purpose of that is?|||On a basic level think of it like this: If you work at a company that uses computers, that company probably has a network that it uses to communicate with each computer, including file sharing, email, etc..





If you are home, but want your computer to act as if it is at work, (file sharing, etc) just like it really was at work, then you would set up a VPN or "tunnel" from your computer to the server at work and the computer would act like it was actually at work.





It doesn't have to be a work network you're trying to tie into, but a "tunnel" is a good analogy.





edit: nothing will happen, literally, unless you tell it where to tunnel to. (That information can be given to you by the company web admin, or the network admin who run the network you want to tunnel to.)





Careful though, remember to switch back to verizon internet (public) or you may interrupt internet service until you do : )|||Definition of a Virtual Private Network (VPN):





In layman's terms--think of it as a "private tunnel" through which your data passes from point A to point B.





A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network that uses a public telecommunication infrastructure such as the Internet to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to their organization's network. It aims to avoid an expensive system of owned or leased lines that can be used by only one organization.





It encapsulates data transfers between two or more networked devices which are not on the same private network so as to keep the transferred data private from other devices on one or more intervening local or wide area networks. There are many different classifications, implementations, and uses for VPNs.





Here's a diagram/graphic that should help: http://www.bath.ac.uk/bucs/networking/Im鈥?/a>





The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a method for implementing virtual private networks. PPTP uses a control channel over TCP and a GRE tunnel operating to encapsulate PPP packets.





Hope this clears things up--without too much techno-bable....|||its a virtual private network