Application of VPN in secure network architecture of ERP System for Small and Medium Enterprises (1)

ERP is short for Enterprise Resourse Planning. It is an information system based on information technology and centered on management accounting. It integrates information technology and advanced management ideas, and integrates all resources within the enterprise, plans and rationally allocates procurement, production, cost, inventory, distribution, transportation, finance, and human resources, and strives to achieve the best combination of enterprise resources to maximize social wealth. It is a management platform that provides decision-making and operation means for enterprise decision-making and employees. It can be said that it is the cornerstone for the survival and development of enterprises in the information age.

The ERP system of small and medium enterprises generally adopts the C/S (Client/Server) architecture and is structured on the Intranet of enterprises. However, with the continuous development of enterprises, many small and medium enterprises have set up branches in industrial parks and economic and technological development zones outside their Headquarters. In addition, they have set up offices in other places to expand their business volume. How to transmit the operation information of these branches and overseas offices to the enterprise Headquarters in a timely manner, so that the enterprise's decision-making layer and employees can make correct decisions accordingly. In addition, because a large amount of data in the ERP system involves business secrets of enterprises, once these ERP data is intercepted during network transmission, it may bring huge economic losses to enterprises. How can we ensure secure and reliable data transmission? These are all related to how enterprises connect to the Internet. A secure, reliable, and efficient network platform is a powerful guarantee for successful ERP operation.

1. VPN Technology

Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology used to establish a Private Network on a public Network. Virtual networks are called virtual networks mainly because the connection between any two nodes in the VPN network does not have an end-to-end physical link required by the traditional private network, it is a logical network built on a network platform provided by a public network service provider (such as Intemet, ATM, and frame relay). User data is transmitted over a logical link. Generally, VPN is an extension of the enterprise intranet. It can help remote users, company branches, business partners, and suppliers to establish trusted and secure connections with the company's intranet, it also ensures secure data transmission. VPN can also be used for the global Internet access of increasing mobile users to achieve secure connections. It can be used for Virtual Private Lines for secure communication between enterprise websites.

VPN is a secure and efficient network technology. It integrates multiple advanced technologies, the most representative and core technologies include tunneling, encryption and decryption, key management, identity authentication, and access control, the close combination of multiple technologies ensures the effective connectivity and security of the virtual internal network built on the public network. The workflow of common VPN is as follows:

(1) The host sends information to the VPN device connected to the backbone network. The VPN device determines whether to encrypt the data or allow the data to pass through directly according to the rules set by the network management, the VPN device encrypts the entire data packet and attaches a digital signature to the data to be encrypted.

(2) Add a new data header to the VPN device, including the security information and initialization parameters required by the destination VPN device.

(3) The VPN device re-encapsulates the encrypted data, verification package, source IP address, and destination VPN device IP address, and re-encapsulates the data packets through the virtual channel for public network transmission, when a data packet arrives at the target VPN device, it unpacks the data packet and verifies the digital signature. After the digital signature is verified, the data packet is decrypted.

It can be seen that VPN technology has advantages such as security, efficiency, and reliability.