Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol

In computer networking, Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) is a tunneling protocol used to support virtual private networks (VPNs) or as part of the delivery of services by ISPs. It uses encryption ('hiding') only for its own control messages (using an optional pre-shared secret), and does not provide any encryption or confidentiality of content by itself. Rather, it provides a tunnel for Layer 2 (which may be encrypted), and the tunnel itself may be passed over a Layer 3 encryption protocol such as IPsec. Published in August 1999 as proposed standard RFC 2661, L2TP has its origins primarily in two older tunneling protocols for point-to-point communication: Cisco's Layer 2 Forwarding Protocol (L2F) and Microsoft's Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP). A new version of this protocol, L2TPv3, appeared as proposed standard RFC 3931 in 2005. L2TPv3 provides additional security features, improved encapsulation, and the ability to carry data links other than simply Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) over an IP network (for example: Frame Relay, Ethernet, ATM, etc.). The entire L2TP packet, including payload and L2TP header, is sent within a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) datagram. A virtue of transmission over UDP (rather than TCP) is that it avoids the "TCP meltdown problem". It is common to carry PPP sessions within an L2TP tunnel. L2TP does not provide confidentiality or strong authentication by itself. IPsec is often used to secure L2TP packets by providing confidentiality, authentication and integrity. The combination of these two protocols is generally known as L2TP/IPsec (discussed below). The two endpoints of an L2TP tunnel are called the L2TP access concentrator (LAC) and the L2TP network server (LNS). The LNS waits for new tunnels. Once a tunnel is established, the network traffic between the peers is bidirectional. To be useful for networking, higher-level protocols are then run through the L2TP tunnel. To facilitate this, an L2TP session is established within the tunnel for each higher-level protocol such as PPP.

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