A Virtual Private Network (VPN) allows you to connect to a private network even if you are not physically present at the network location. This works by tunneling your traffic via a VPN. The data transfer over a VPN is additionally often, but not always, encrypted which makes it also useful to use in non-trusted networks. Examples of these non-trusted networks could be a Wi-Fi without password authentication, public Wi-Fi such as hotels and airports, etc.

The UG provides two VPNs:

• SafeNet VPN: For using secure internet through the UG network. This VPN connection is additionally encrypted and suitable for non-trusted environment.
• RDP VPN: For making a secure connection with a PC in the UG network through the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Its main purpose is for accessing UG workstations via RDP (see below).

The basic steps to get a VPN connection running are:

1. Install the UG-provided VPN client on your local machine
2. Configure it with one of the UG-provided VPN addresses
3. Connect using your UG credentials

After that, your IP address will be chosen from the IP range of the university, which will allow you to access certain UG services whose access is restricted to UG IPs, for example the Research Data Management System (RDMS).

The IRIS portal provides an overview on how to install and set up the VPN on different operating systems.

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