Epygi Quadro2x Administrator's Manual page 84

Quadro Baseline
Establishing an IPSec connection normally requires the functionality of a VPN gateway on each side of the communication line. An intelligent Internet
access router, for example Quadro, delivers this function but also PCs or workstations may also be equipped with VPN gateway functionality. Home
offices typically prefer dynamically allocated IP addresses.
When Quadro is connected to the Internet with a fixed IP address, it will be set up to act as a VPN gateway. Quadro is then prepared to establish an
IPSec connection with another VPN gateway device, but also allows access to Road Warriors. A notebook /laptop used by a traveling employee
could also be a Road Warrior. Access to their company's intranet via an IPSec connection can be obtained regardless of their location.
Quadro can also be set up to act as a Road Warrior. If a home office is connected to the Internet via Quadro with PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol)
and dynamic IP addressing, setting up Quadro as a Road Warrior will allow an IPSec connection to the corporate network.
For the encryption and decryption of the data transmitted via the IPSec connection, a key is used. RSA used by Quadro is an asymmetric key
system. It has to be available on both sides of the IPSec connection and will generate a different pair of keys on each side, a private key and a public
key. During the connection establishment, some data is encrypted with the remote party's public key. They can be decrypting the data with their
private key and the data encrypted there with Quadro's public key can be decrypted with Quadro's private key. Since the private key is never
transmitted, it stays completely unknown to everyone, thus the system remains safe. Even if someone gets the public key, decryption cannot be
possible without the private key. Quadro generates such a pair of keys automatically when it is set up. The user cannot see the private key, but must
know the public key because their IPSec connection partner will need it.
Please Note: A pair of keys will always be generated, a public one and a private one. The previously generated pair of keys will become invalid as
well as all existing IPSec connections that use RSA keying.
The IPSec Configuration link refers to the IPSec Connection
Settings page. This page provides an overview of all existing
IPSec connections characterized by their Connection Name,
the Remote Gateway (the IP address or the hostname of the
IPSec connection partner), the State of the IPSec connection
(Stopped, Connecting, Activated, Waiting or Connected) and the
dedicated Keying Type (the encryption type). The content of
the table can be sorted in ascending or descending order by
clicking on the header of the respective column. There is a
checkbox for every IPSec connection to select it for further
editing.
Start activates the connection establishment of the selected
IPSec connection. The State of the IPSec connection will
change into "Connected" or "Activated" depending on the IPSec
connection type. If no record is selected, the error message
"One Record should be selected" appears.
Attention: It is not recommended to simultaneously start a
static and a dynamic connection configured to use the same
secret key. A dynamic connection may capture the static
connection peer and vice versa, depending on which connection
established first.
Stop disconnects the selected IPSec connection. The state of
the IPSec connection will change into "Stopped". If no record is
selected, the error message "One Record should be selected"
will appear. More than one record may be selected at a time to
be stopped.
Add leads to the Add IPSec Connection wizard where a new IPSec connection can be defined and specified. The wizard provides several pages.
Edit leads to a set of IPSec Connection Properties pages to modify the parameters of the selected IPSec connection. The page includes the same
components as the Add IPSec Connection page. To operate with Edit, only one record may be selected, otherwise an error message "One row
must be selected" appears.
Restart all Connections restarts all active IPSec connections. The State of these IPSec connections will turn into Connected or Activated if the
restart procedure has been successfully completed.
RSA Key Management leads to the RSA Key Management page to see the current RSA key, to generate a new one and to send it to the peer via
e-mail.
Quadro2x, Quadro2xi; SW Version 4.0.x
Quadro2x Manual II: Administrator's Guide – Administrator's Graphical User Interface
Fig. II-140: IPSec Connection Settings page
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