WireGuard VPN Infrastructure

Project Overview

Designed and deployed a production-grade WireGuard VPN infrastructure providing secure remote access to my homelab network. This implementation leverages WireGuard's modern cryptographic principles and lightweight design to deliver exceptional performance with minimal overhead.

The solution includes dynamic DNS integration for seamless connectivity, split-tunneling capabilities for optimized traffic routing, and support for multiple concurrent devices with individual key pairs for enhanced security.

Key Features

Ultra-Low Latency

WireGuard's efficient protocol ensures minimal performance impact with typical overhead under 5ms

Modern Cryptography

ChaCha20 encryption and Poly1305 authentication with Curve25519 key exchange

Multi-Platform

Native clients for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux with seamless roaming

Split Tunneling

Intelligent routing allows selective traffic through VPN while maintaining local network access

Technical Implementation

Infrastructure

Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
WireGuard kernel module
UFW firewall configuration
IP forwarding & NAT rules
Dynamic DNS (Duck DNS)

Network Config

VPN subnet: 10.8.0.0/24
UDP port 51820
MTU optimization (1420)
Persistent keepalive
AllowedIPs routing rules

Security

Unique key pairs per device
Perfect forward secrecy
Automatic key rotation
Fail2ban protection
Connection logging

Monitoring

Connection status tracking
Bandwidth monitoring
Client metrics collection
Grafana dashboards
Alert on disconnects

Configuration Highlights

Server Configuration

[Interface]
Address = 10.8.0.1/24
ListenPort = 51820
PrivateKey = <SERVER_PRIVATE_KEY>
PostUp = iptables -A FORWARD -i wg0 -j ACCEPT; iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE
PostDown = iptables -D FORWARD -i wg0 -j ACCEPT; iptables -t nat -D POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

[Peer]
# Mobile Device
PublicKey = <CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY>
AllowedIPs = 10.8.0.2/32
PersistentKeepalive = 25

Learning Outcomes

Cryptography

Gained deep understanding of modern cryptographic primitives including Curve25519, ChaCha20, Poly1305, and the Noise protocol framework that WireGuard is built upon.

Kernel Networking

Learned about kernel-level networking implementation, including TUN/TAP interfaces, routing tables, and the advantages of in-kernel vs userspace VPN implementations.

Dynamic DNS

Implemented automated DDNS updates to maintain connectivity despite dynamic ISP IP addresses, including systemd service configuration and error handling.

Performance Tuning

Optimized MTU settings, adjusted buffer sizes, and configured TCP/UDP parameters to maximize throughput while minimizing latency across various network conditions.

Performance Metrics

🚀 Latency

+3ms

Average overhead compared to direct connection

⚡ Throughput

950 Mbps

Maximum sustained bandwidth on gigabit connection

🔋 CPU Usage

< 5%

Server CPU utilization during peak traffic

✅ Uptime

99.8%

Service availability over past 6 months