Types / Topologies
Network Types
WAN
Wide Area Network or commonly referred as The Internet. WAN Address usually is IP Public Address + CIDR.
LAN / WLAN
Local Area Network and Wireless Local Area Network will usually assign IP addresses for private use, like 198.0.0.1/24, 10.10.10.45/20, 176.13.0.0/17 etc. Difference between LAN and WLAN is that WLAN can transmit data without cables, LAN is cable-only.
VPN
Main point of Virtual Private Network is simulate a work of Private Network, but virtually, having perks of both sides.
Site-To-Site VPN
Site-to-site VPN creates a secure connection between two separate networks located at different sites, such as branch offices of a company or between a corporate office and a data center. It allows devices in these networks to communicate securely over the internet as if they were on the same local network.
Remote Access VPN
Remote Access VPN allows individual users to securely connect to a private network from a remote location over the internet. It provides secure access to resources on the network, such as files, applications, or servers, as if the user were physically present in the organization's network. Good example of this is Vulnlab, HackTheBox and TryHackMe, because they are using +- same principle, OpenVPN for making a TUN adapter to get access to lab networks.
SSL VPN
SSL VPN operates similarly to a Remote Access VPN but specifically uses the SSL/TLS protocol to secure the connection. It allows remote users to access private network resources securely over the internet, typically via a web browser or lightweight VPN client. Example could be a few CTF platform which requires to use web desktop application, or HTB Pwnbox (if you know, you know).
Network Topologies
Network Topologies is typical arrangement of devices like computers (clients or servers), bridges, switches and routers in one. Also topologies can be logical and physical.
Network Topologies can be separated into 3 areas:
Connections (wired or wireless, different cable types or Wifi, Cellular, Sattelite etc.)
Nodes (Repeaters, Routers, Hubs, Gateway, Bridges, Firewalls, Switches etc.)
Classifications (Point-To-Point, Bus, Star, Tree, Ring, Hybrid etc. )
Network Classifications
Point-To-Point
Do not confuse it with P2P. And besides that it's the simplest network topology because it only connects 2 hosts:
Bus
All hosts connected to transmission medium. Also in this topology only one host can send, while other can only recieve data.
Star
All hosts are connected to central network component (switch, bridge or a hub) which is used for packet forwarding.
Ring
Point of Ring topology is that it looks like a circle, and in each host there cable for incoming and outcoming connections.
Mesh
There is no certain structure in Mesh topology, but there are 2 types: Fully-meshed and Partially-meshed networks.
In Fully-meshed networks each host interconnected to each other. Also in this network type routers can be connected too, so if one router fails, other could work for both, what is making a network more stable.
In Partially-meshed the endpoints are connected with only one connection, and some specific nodes can be connected to one or more nodes, depends on situation.
Tree
Tree is an extented Star topology.
Hybrid
Hybrid topology is obviously a hybrid of different other topologies:
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