Virtual vpn in the cloud

Objectives: 
The objective of this thesis involves the modeling of an open source IPSec 
based VPN solution on a Linux Platform and estimating its performance efficiency for 
implementing VPNaaS prototype. Also resource allocation and management metrics are 
evaluated to determine the rate and reliability of launching VMs. An extensive literature 
review has been carried out depicting the various VPN implementations and various 
security enhancing key distribution mechanisms. 
Methods: 
Configuration and modeling of an IPSec VPN solution on a Linux 
environment has been accomplished by proper experimental set-up in the FIWARE 
federated cloud where performance metrics on throughput, jitter and packet loss were 
measured and analyzed. Overheads concerning various encryption algorithms have been 
studied and resulted.
Results: 
AES128-MD5 outperforms all the other algorithmic combinations, owing to its 
advanced functionality and software compatibility. TCP and UDP analysis show 
comparative analysis between tunnel and non-tunneled traffic. VM resource allocation, 
failure ratio and service operational times were also measured to evaluate factors like 
speed and reliability of VPN services.
Conclusion: 
Introducing VPN prototype to the cloud can enable cloud users to remain 
interconnected across multiple geographical locations simultaneously enhancing data 
integrity and confidentiality. Thorough literature review conducted on various VPN 
architectures, key distribution mechanisms will supplement future researchers to select 
accurately depending on pre-requisites. There is also a lot of scope for future work, 
including various caching algorithms for overhead reduction enhancing performance 
efficiency. 
Keywords: 
Cloud, Security, StrongSwan, Virtualization, VPN. 

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