What is 'tunneling'?

Question

Somebody mentioned it in one of my previous questions and i was wondering what it was.

Answer 1

Tunneling is often referred to when discussing vpns. Virtual Private Networks. It has to do with the fact that you're creating a Virtual Private Network connection via the internet. The "Private" network (secure network) is created by tunneling the connection through the internet (non-secure).
It's an encrypted secured network connection that is provided to a point by using the internet connection which is non-secured. So basically a hole is opened on the internet where no other traffic can pass to make a secured connection to an end point.

Usually it's what is used for remote users to connect to corporate networks.

Answer 2

Full explanation here. Looks rather technical.

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci213230,00.html

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunneling_protocol

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci213230,00.html

http://www.ssh.com/support/documentation/online/ssh/winhelp/32/Tunneling_Explained.html

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/inet/98/proceedings/6h/6h_1.htm

check these out, very specific and some not so technical