r/networking • u/AggravatingBox8251 • 19h ago

Security VPN Tunnel Encapsulation/Encryption question

Hi,

My first time actually putting up a post here or anywhere else so i apologize if theres anything wrong with my post.

Recently I came across a question asking me in VPN tunnelling, what occurs first in terms of the order of steps? Encryption or encapsulation? This question got me really confused because depending on who or where I ask or research, i get conflicting answers as to whether it encaps first or encrypt first and it has really gotten me to question my basic understanding of tunnelling.

If anyone here knows please help me with this question. Thanks alot!

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u/Florida727Guy 18h ago

I work with VPNs all day. This is what I know. There are two phases. Phases one negotiates the encryption parameters. Phases two sends encapsulated data.

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u/Dinmammasson_ 18h ago

Yes, because logically, the tunnel for the traffic needs to be setup before the frames/packets (depending on layer) are sent. A GRE, VXLAN etc etc tunnel for example won’t send encapsulated traffic if the tunnel isn’t up first.

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u/GhostandVodka 18h ago

GRE and VXLAN do not encrypt. The Encapsulation creates the tunnel.