What is SSH tunneling and port forwarding?

Is SSH tunneling the same as port forwarding?

SSH port forwarding is often referred to as SSH tunneling, and the two terms are used interchangeably. The encrypted SSH 'tunnel' serves as a vessel to transfer assorted data and deliver it safely to the remote system. This method is regularly used to circumvent standard firewall security protocols.

What is difference between tunneling and port forwarding?

port forwarding can be performed using only the data available in the network packet envelope. Tunneling requires inspection of the data inside the packet (at least to establish the tunnel). port forwarding is 'stateless' in the sense that all data matching the rules is forwarded.

Why do we need SSH tunneling?

SSH tunneling is a method to transport additional data streams within an existing SSH session. SSH tunneling helps achieve security use cases such as remote web service access without exposing port on the internet, accessing server behind NAT, exposing local port to the internet.

Is SSH tunneling a VPN?

The traffic between your computer and the SSH server is encrypted, so you can browse over an encrypted connection as you could with a VPN. However, an SSH tunnel doesn't offer all the benefits of a VPN. Unlike with a VPN, you must configure each application to use the SSH tunnel's proxy.