- TUN/TAP
In
computer networking , TUN and TAP are virtual network kernel drivers. They implement network devices that are supported entirely in software, which is different from ordinary network devices that are backed up by hardware network adapters.TAP (as in
network tap ) simulates anEthernet device and it operates with packets such asEthernet frames. TUN (as in network TUNnel) simulates anetwork layer device and it operates with packets such as IP packets. TAP is used to create anetwork bridge , while TUN is used withrouting .Packets sent by an
operating system via a TUN/TAP device are delivered to a user-space program that attaches itself to the device. A user-space program may also pass packets into a TUN/TAP device. In this case TUN/TAP device delivers (or "injects") these packets to the operating systemnetwork stack thus emulating their reception from an external source.TUN/TAP is used for:
*virtual private network s
**OpenVPN ,Ethernet /IP over TCP/UDP; encrypted, compressed
**tinc (protocol) [http://www.tinc-vpn.org/] , Ethernet/IPv4/IPv6 over TCP/UDP; encrypted, compressed
**VTun [http://vtun.sourceforge.net/] , Ethernet/IP/serial/Unix pipe over TCP; encrypted, compressed, traffic shaping
**OpenSSH
**ICMPTX [http://thomer.com/icmptx/] , IP over ICMP (ping)
**NSTX [http://thomer.com/howtos/nstx.html] , iodine [http://code.kryo.se/iodine/] , IP over DNS
**HTun [http://htun.runslinux.net/] , IP over HTTP
**coLinux ,Ethernet /IP over TCP/UDP
**Hamachi
**VPN-X Java TAP Wrapper, VPN-X can be a P2P VPN, can be a SSL VPN
* virtual machine networking
**Bochs
**coLinux
** Hercules (S/390 emulator)
**QEMU
**User-mode Linux
**VirtualBox TUN/TAP drivers are available on at least the following platforms:
*FreeBSD
*Linux , starting around version 2.1.60
*Mac OS X
*NetBSD
*OpenBSD
*Solaris Operating System
*Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/VistaExternal links
* http://vtun.sourceforge.net/
* http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/marcelo/linux-2.4/Documentation/networking/tuntap.txt
* http://tuntaposx.sourceforge.net/ - tun/tap driver for Mac OS X
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.