Hamachi - Zero Configuration Peer 2 Peer VPN

I was listening to Steve Gibson talk to Leo Laporte talk about Hamachi in the Security Now podcast.

With Hamachi you can connect two or more computers through a regular internet connection, creating their own virtual network for direct secure communication.

What can it do?

• LAN over the internet.
• Zero-configuration VPN.
• Secure peer-to-peer.

So now when I am on the road I can access my desktop computer just like I was on the local LAN. I have access to Windows file sharing. If so inclined could play LAN games, run private web or FTP servers, and many other applications.

According to the site Hamachi is a UDP-based virtual private networking system. The peers utilize a 3rd node, called mediation server, to locate each other in order to boot strap the connection between themselves. The connection between the machines becomes direct once it’s established and no traffic flows through the mediation server.

Two uses I can think of immediately for this are first simple file sharing so I can access my files from any location but also I can use Hamachi to ‘transport’ my UltraVNC connection so that it is completely secure over the web.