VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and it is practically a private communications network. A VPN is used within a company or by several companies in order to preserve their “intimacy”. The messages are carried over the public network (like the Internet). VPN is composed of two parts: the inside (the protected) network and the outside (less protected) network.
The remote users are generally protected by a firewall and at the connection with the host or server they must enter authentication data for the authentication service inside the area. So, basically, if you are part of a VPN, you must have some sort of authentication in order to access the network and transmit the data.
This is exactly what Hamachi does. It creates private networks and establishes connections between the users. And a good job it does!
The software is a product of Applied Networking Inc., a company which deals with software development in the field of advanced networking and data security. The company was founded in 2002 and has its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada.
OK, let’s get into a deeper description of the software. Hamachi is a UDP (User Datagram Protocol)-based VPN system. Its users locate each other and boot strap the connection between them by means of a third node (mediation server). Hamachi people assure the users of the fact that “the connection itself is direct and once it’s established no traffic flows through our servers”.
For the beginning, let’s say that once you have Hamachi installed on your computer it adds a new network adapter, which operates under the default firewalling rules. This means that the network adapter is configurable just like your local area connection. This happens because Hamachi gives therapy sessions to your computer and “persuades” it that is part of a LAN (cool, isn’t it?). Now, all you have to do is adjust the configuration of your personal firewalling software on Hamachi adapter.
That was the basic information you have to know about how Hamachi works. I will proceed to the software itself and what it can really do. First of all, it is a freeware and it also has versions that work on MAC and Linux. The installation file is only 779 kb, so it will not be such a great sacrifice if you decide to keep it. The memory usage is pretty low too.
The interface is
simple enough so that any user (and I really mean it) can get accustomed to it and make all the necessary settings for establishing a connection. The window has five buttons: minimize, exit (left and right upper part), power off (toggles on/offline), join or create networks, and the configuration button (Preferences menu). The last two buttons are the most important, as they help make the settings for the network and the software.
With this application you can make any computer a server and a messaging service. You can chat with your buddies in your own private network, or even create a network for multiplayer games. It comes in really handy when you want to make some changes on your office computer from home.
Creating a new network with Hamachi is as easy as 1, 2, 3 and 4: click on the Create or Join Networks button, select Create New Network, fill in the required fields (network name and network password) and click Create button.
Joining an existing network is made in the same four-step manner: click on the Create or Join Networks button, select Join Existing Network, fill in the fields (network name and network password) and click Join button.
Well, in the Preferences you make the desired settings for Hamachi: status (you can change your nickname and set a master password), window (appearance, confirmations, and network member label), system (starting Hamachi, updating, connectivity), security (block members or services), messaging and presence.
The Good
The software is freeware and does a really good job. The connection is stable and you can even use it for file-sharing and gaming (not to mention remote assistance and remote desktop.)
The Truth
It works just fine. I am pretty excited about it because I can create gaming networks and talk in my own VPN; no strings/wires needed beside the Internet connection. Check it out, it’s cool stuff and I’m sure it won’t disappoint you.
Hamachi 1.0.2.2 Change Log
Added notifications in a form of system tray balloons; this feature
can be turned off via hamachi-override.ini
* Added an option of enabling diagnostic log from the Preferences,
System page. Maximum log size defaults to 16 Megs, split into two
8 MB files. The size and the verbosity of the log file is controlled
via hamachi-override.ini
* Added new languages - Croatian and Hungarian. Serbian is on its way.
* Updated a number of existing translations
* Modified Hamachi adapter driver to use stack space more rationally;
all bulky temporary variables are now allocated off the stack
* Modified the installer to put Hamachi adapter _last_ on Windows’
“adapter binding list”
* Modified the installer to disable “DNS updates” on Hamachi adapter,
which is another way of saying that 5.x.x.x address should NOT now
be getting an A record if the machine’s running a DNS server
* Modified the installer to set DefaultGateway on the Hamachi adapter
to 5.0.0.1 and its InterfaceMetric - to 9000. This Vista-specific
fix; non-Vista installations are not affected
* Fixed “stuck in a reconnecting mode” issue
* Fixed UPnP code to understand broken dialects of HTTP/1.1 spoken
by some home routers
* Fixed local value of peer’s MAC address being different from the
value used by the peer itself (affects IPX connectivity)
* Fixed “Failed to connect to the adapter” problem by -
# making Hamachi select any suitable adapter if the default one is
not available
# making the installer force Windows to name all newly added items
in a Network Connections folder (affects machines that do not use
Windows Explorer as a default shell)
* Fixed the problem with per-peer information not being saved properly
when Hamachi is running as a service
* Fixed the problem with “Block Vulnerable Services” option not working
properly
* Fixed cosmetic UI issues (language, wording, formatting, etc)
What else you can do?
Once you’ve established a secure Hamachi VPN, you can use remote desktop software like Windows Remote Desktop, RealVNC or UltraVNC to surf safely through your connection at home. Use as a secure way to chat, hamachi has a nice chat interface with 256 AES encryption. Run a secure web http file server, ftp server, or proxy your ip with your hamachi address.
Indicator signals:
Yellow or cyan status means that Hamachi cannot stablish direct p2p tunnel between you and respective peer. This is not a bug, but rather an artefact of core Hamachi technology that occurs roughly in 3-5% of
all cases.
See this page for a detailed list of all types of Hamachi statuses.
The underlying reason is in a combination of NAT/router/firewall devices on both ends. Therefore you may see cases when for A, B and C peers, A can talk to B, B can talk to C, but A cannot talk to C.
With 1.0 release now available to the public, there are now two ways around this issue. First is a Location-specific, labour intensive and free. Second is very easy to use but requires upgrading Hamachi account
to Premium level.
Option No. 1 - Port Forwarding
- Upgrade to the most recent 1.0 version (Windows people only).
1.0 links and information is here - http://forums.hamachi.cc/viewforum.php?f=14Select some UDP port, say, 12345Forward this port from the network interface on your router that hooks up to the Internet to the machine that is running Hamachi.Open Hamachi Preferences > Detailed Configuration > set the UDP port to the selected port (12345).
Reconnect Hamachi
What this option does is it forces Hamachi to use specified UDP port as a local port for all its p2p traffic.
For details on how to configure port forwarding (and what it is in general)
please see this website - www.portforward.com
Option No. 2
Upgrade to 1.0 Premium account and our system will take care of relaying
the traffic between you and other people when no direct connectivity is
available.
The traffic between you and your peers will remain encrypted end-to-end,
and it will possess all cryptographical protection properties of a direct p2p
connection. The only thing that will change is that it will be sent via 3rd
network node - a relay - that is accessible from both peers.
We maintain a number of relays and whenever the tunnel is being setup,
the system will select the one that delivers fastest possible transmission.
When the tunnel is relayed, you will see a peer marked with a blue status
indicator instead of a green one.
It is possible to use low-bandwidth version of the relaying feature
with regular (non-premium) accounts by upgrading both sides of
the connection to a recent 1.0 client !
HAMACHI DOWNLOAD:
https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/vpn.asp?lang=en
Every router is located on this site:
http://portforward.com/english/applications/port_forwarding/Hamachi/Hamachiindex.htm
More Hamachi Guides:
http://forums.hamachi.cc/viewforum.php?f=12
http://logmeinwiki.com/index.php?title=Special%3AAllpages&from=&namespace=102
Awesome HFS to use with Hamachi
http://rejetto.com/hfs/
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