How does Split Tunneling technology work at the operating system and network route level?

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Split Tunneling technology allows users to flexibly configure network traffic routing by directing a portion of applications and websites through a secure VPN server while routing the rest of the traffic directly through the local internet provider.

At the operating system level, this feature relies on the IP routing table. When a VPN client connects to a remote server, it adds a virtual network interface and registers new default routes for this interface, intercepting all outgoing device requests.

When split tunneling is activated, the client software changes the system's logic in one of two possible ways: based on specific IP addresses of target resources or based on running application executable files.

1. Application exclusion mode, where the traffic of specific programs is forcibly routed past the VPN virtual interface directly into the physical network.
2. Application inclusion mode, where only selected programs are run through the VPN tunnel, and the rest of the system operates via a regular connection.
3. Subnet-based routing, where only requests to the company's internal corporate resources go through the secure connection, while public sites open directly.

The main advantage of this approach is saving channel bandwidth and maintaining access to local devices on the home network, such as printers or NAS devices. In addition, it eliminates issues with the slow performance of local services that might block foreign VPN nodes.

How does Split Tunneling technology work at the operating system and network route level?

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