So you have a LAN in office where you share documents between a few computers. Now suppose you are at home and one of the files is on another PC at work. What do you do?
One solution is to get Hamachi installed on both PCs.
Hamachi is not open source but the free version is very usable and I have used it on occassions between office, home and client’s location. (Hamachi had just been acquired by LogMeIn Inc in August 2006, it seems like the free version will continue to be available.)
There are a number of solutions available to achieve remote connection, even Windows XP comes with Remote Desktop. But what makes Hamachi stands out is the ease of use. Once installed, you just have to follow the few guided steps to get it up and running.
If you have ever tried connecting to remote computers with softwares like VNC, PCAnywhere or even a VPN you will find that the setup is often a big hassle, especially for non-technical users.
Here are a few problematic scenarios I can think of,
- you are behind a firewall in a client’s office
- you office LAN is behind a router (or wireless router)
- you do not know the IP of the remote computer
- you need some to run a host/server at the remote computer to listen to your connection
Hamachi’s concept, however, makes it easy to deal with all these sceanrios. There are no ports to be opened or configured and no need to find the remote IP. (For the technically inclined, find out how it works)
The steps are simple (and Hamachi comes with a very intuitive Quick Guide that explains each step.)
- Download and run the install. (Assuming you are using the Windows version.)
- If this is your first installation, you need to create a Network.
A Network is basically like a workgroup with members of the same Network can share resource. - Once you have installed Hamachi on other computers, add them to the same Network
Once Hamachi is running this is what you see.
How to connect to shared folders?
If your office LAN has a few computer sharing files, you can install Hamachi with all computers in the same Hamachi network.
Right-click on any member of the network and click browse. You will be able to browse the file like in Windows’ Network Neighbourhood.
One draw back of the free version Hamachi is that the program cannot be run as a service. What this means is that a Windows XP user is required to log on and run Hamachi. In another word, connecting to an unattended computer may fail if the computer does not auto-logon like in the case of multiple user or password protected computer.
Fear not! Go to the Hamachi forum, a source of many useful information, you will find solution to this and many more advanced usage.
In the meantime, try Hamachi, I’m sure it will bring a new level of connectedness in your business and work.
What I like about Hamachi?
- very easy to use, even for non-technical users
- no messy configuration
- file and print sharing across multiple LAN and locations
- other network protocols (like SSH, FTP, HTTP, VNC) can go through it transparently
- encrypted
My wishlist for Hamachi
- official support for FreeBSD
Chinese support
The Simplified Chinese version of Hamachi can downloaded from the download page (click on “Click here for more languages”).
In the English version, Hamachi is able to support Chinese characters in the Nickname and Network name. So there is no problem using Hamachi in a mixed English-Chinese environment.
Where to get it?
- Hamachi is at http://www.hamachi.cc/
- Current version: 1.0.1.1
- Function: VPN, LAN over the Internet
Popularity: 46%
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