WireGuard-AES: Hardware based encryption to WireGuard for VPN gateways
WireGuard is a high-performance virtual private network (VPN) implemented in the Linux kernel, known for its speed and software-based encryption. However, it struggles as a VPN gateway (VPNGW) due to reduced throughput when multiple clients connect—especially in software-defined networks (SDNs), whe...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | SoftwareX |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711025002808 |
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| Summary: | WireGuard is a high-performance virtual private network (VPN) implemented in the Linux kernel, known for its speed and software-based encryption. However, it struggles as a VPN gateway (VPNGW) due to reduced throughput when multiple clients connect—especially in software-defined networks (SDNs), where hardware encryption support is underutilized. This study introduces a novel WireGuard implementation using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption, leveraging hardware support to improve performance. Kernel-based AES boosts throughput by 11%, reduces retransmissions by 5.5%, and lowers central processing unit (CPU) usage by at least 2% (with 95% confidence interval). User-space AES achieves up to 19% higher throughput on modern CPUs, paving the way for increased speeds and better efficiency with larger maximum transmission units (MTUs). |
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| ISSN: | 2352-7110 |