Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol

(communications, protocol)

(PPTP) A tunneling protocol for connecting Windows NT clients and servers over Remote Access Services (RAS). PPTP can be used to create a Virtual Private Network between computers running NT. It is an extension of PPP sponsored by Microsoft.

Microsoft Point to Point Encryption may be used with PPTP to provide an encrypted connection but PPTP itself does not use encryption.

Compare: Layer Two Tunneling Protocol.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

PPTP

(Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) A protocol from Microsoft that is used to create a virtual private network (VPN) over the Internet. Remote users can access their corporate networks via an ISP that supports PPTP.

PPTP encapsulates all network protocols for transport over IP. If IP is the source, IP packets ride as encrypted messages inside PPTP packets running over IP. PPTP is based on the point-to-point protocol (PPP) protocol and the generic routing encapsulation (GRE) protocol. Encryption is performed by Microsoft's Point-to-Point Encryption (MPPE), which is based on RC4. See L2TP and VPN protocols.

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