6.3. Why Use CIPE?

There are several reasons why CIPE would be a smart choice for security and systems administrators:

• Red Hat Linux ships with CIPE, so it is available to all Red Hat Linux edge machines (for example, firewalls or gateways) that you want to connect to your Intranet. Red Hat Linux also includes CIPE-supported encryption ciphers in its general distribution.

• CIPE supports encryption using either of the standard Blowfish or IDEA encryption algorithms. Depending on encryption export regulations in your country, you may use the default (Blowfish) to encrypt all CIPE traffic on your Intranet.

• Because CIPE is software based, any older or redundant machine that is able to run Red Hat Linux can become a CIPE gateway, saving an organization from having to purchase expensive dedicated VPN hardware to connect two LANs securely.

• CIPE is actively developed to work in conjunction with iptables, ipchains, and other rules-based firewalls. Peer acceptance of incoming CIPE UDP packets is all that is needed to coexist with existing firewall rules.

• CIPE configuration is done through text files, allowing administrators to configure their CIPE servers and clients remotely without the need for bulky graphical tools that can function poorly over a network.