[The Path to Root - SysAdmin Blog (Beta)] Introduction to Hamachi, Part 1
treehead
A few months ago, a friend of mine turned me on to Hamachi, but I didn't get around to trying it out until now. Hamachi is a multi-platform software package for the creation of ad-hoc Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
To truly appreciate Hamachi, you have to understand the problems with traditional VPNs. The short of it is that VPNs have traditionally been:
- Static: tunnels had to be set up per connection type or even per user in some cases.
- Complex: tunnels were based on multi-stage handshaking routines that required one or more VPN specific ports to be open on a routing device or firewall.
- Slow: the levels of encryption and "layers" of routing and encapsulation necessary for tunnels in many cases require hardware acceleration and are typically very latent.
- Centric: Traditionally, VPN configuration has been in the hands of the network administrators and users could only make connects preconfigured by those network administrators.
This is where Hamachi comes in. Hamachi is a free (as in beer) software program for creating VPN networks. Hamachi is as close to the "Holy Grail of VPNs" as I have seen. Hamachi solves in spades virtually all of the problems with traditional VPNs:
- Dynamic: Hamachi allows you to set up VPNs on-the-fly, adding and deleting clients or dissolving entire VPNs at will.
- Simple: To set up a network requires only the installation of the software and the name and password for a given network. That's it.
- Fast: Because the tunnel created by Hamachi is peer-to-peer (stretches to and from only those systems that are communicating) and does not involve intermediaries, it is as fast as those two peers at either end.
- Distributed: Because it is based on a software package and is exceedingly simple, Hamachi puts VPN setup in the reach of users.
The best explanation of how Hamachi works is the Hamachi Security Architecture description, but it basically boils down to Hamachi using the same public key cryptography that made personal cryptography feasible.
My Mileage, YMMV
My personal experience with Hamachi has been extremely positive. I have created VPNs and made connections successfully under several different conditions, including through a proxied Internet connection. One of Hamachi's nicer features is its ability to create multiple networks on one machine. Because of its peer-to-peer model you can, in effect, configure multiple VPNs to multiple computers (up to 64 separate networks with the free version).
In "Introduction to Hamachi, Part 2," I will be addressing the Hamachi Linux client, so stay tuned...
More Reading & Resources...
- LogMeIn
- Security Now
- Security Now podcast on Hamachi
- Transcript of the Security Now podcast on Hamachi
- How Hamachi Works
- Hamachi Security White Paper [PDF]
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Posted By treehead to The Path to Root - SysAdmin Blog (Beta) at 8/12/2007 04:54:00 AM