VPN vs SSH tunnel

Posted by freemexy on September 23rd, 2019

Internet security has become crucial for both businesses and people who care about who might intercept their web traffic data. Hence, the discussion: “VPN vs SSH tunnel – which one is better?” is bound to grow as people seek to establish secure and private internet connections. @$#f4
At this point, many internet users have heard of VPNs and SSH tunnels. The two terms may be confusing to some, especially among novice tech users, but our SSH tunnel vs VPN comparison will help you understand the most important differences between the two.
VPNs and SSH tunnels can both secure channels for tunneling network traffic over any encrypted connection. Though they are similar in some features and different in others, essentially, they both boost your internet experience by offering a unique degree of security and privacy.
They are competing technologies that are designed to solve different tunneling problems and are configured to function differently. Therefore, when deciding which to use, it helps to understand how each one works, as well as the pros and cons. Read on for a more a detailed SSH tunnel vs VPN explanation.
What is a VPN?
VPN stands for virtual private network and, as the name implies, it is used to facilitate secure connections to private networks over both public and private networks. A good example of common VPN usage is a business using a private network with networked printers and file shares. Employees may travel and need to access business resources while on the road, without exposing crucial business resources to the public.
In such a case, the business sets-up a VPN server, employees connect to it and their computers are integrated to the business’s private network. A VPN client communicates over internet to send a computer’s traffic over an encrypted connection, to their VPN server. This encryption offers a secure internet connection, meaning that business competitors cannot snoop to access confidential business information. VPN download

In cases where all the web browsing traffic is sent over a VPN, none of that traffic can be accessed by third parties. This feature offers absolute protection, especially when using public wifi networks. It also allows users to access geographically restricted internet browsing services.
What is an SSH Tunnel?
SSH means Secure Shell. The shell is a command interface tasked with sending commands to computer operating systems. Each time a command line is opened, a shell is used. Note that the Windows graphical interface is a shell. The shell of a computer can be accessed remotely and commands can be sent to it. For instance, you can use a remote shell to manage a Linux server from any location via the internet. As such, SSH is a network protocol that was designed to log into a computer remotely.
SSH is applied to help acquire and use a remote terminal session securely. However, it has other uses. For instance, since it uses very strong encryption, it can be set to act like a SOCKS proxy. Once this feature is in place, you can configure computer applications like the web browser to utilize the SOCKS proxy. Web traffic passes through the SOCKS proxy that runs on your local system, and an SSH client forwards it via SSH connection. This action is referred to as SSH tunneling.