IPsec Internals: AH, ESP and the Two Databases
by Froga
The machinery under an IPsec VPN — which of the two protocols encrypts and which only authenticates, what the SPI identifies, and the difference between the policy database that decides and the association database that holds the keys.
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ESP encrypts. AH does not — it provides integrity and data origin authentication and nothing else, so an AH-protected packet travels in plain sight and simply cannot be altered without detection. In practice almost everything uses ESP, because ESP can also authenticate, which makes AH largely redundant.
IPsec offers two protection protocols. Which one provides confidentiality?
multiple choice
ESP — Encapsulating Security Payload
AH — Authentication Header
Both provide it equally
Neither; IPsec only authenticates
One of the two names describes wrapping something up. The other describes proving who sent it.
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