Secure and manageable virtual private networks for end-users

This paper presents personal networks, which integrate a VPN and the per-VPN execution environments of the hosts included in the VPN. The key point is that each execution environment called a portspace is bound to only one VPN, i.e., single-homed. Using this feature of portspaces, personal networks address several problems at multi-homed hosts that use multiple VPNs. Information flow is separated by personal networks so that it is not mixed at multi-homed hosts. IP addressing in a personal network is independent of the other personal networks, even the base network, and therefore does not conflict with those of other networks at multi-homed hosts. In addition, personal networks provide facilities for easy bootstrapping so that the end-users can construct such isolated networks easily. Inheritance of portspaces supports the creation of new portspaces based on existing portspaces. Self-construction of personal networks enables end-users to construct personal networks without help from the base network.