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Do you have visions of VPN connection hell dancing around in your head? Has your IT department not been able to successfully link your remote notebook via VPN to your company’s internal network, but they’re “working on it”?

VPN connections are notoriously difficult to set up and quite finicky. In addition, if you’re setting up a VPN through your router, you’ll typically need to buy software from the router vendor, and configure both the router and each remote user for VPN access.

For small companies, this can be a real problem.

A little-known company (they seem to always have the best stuff!) created version 1.0 of a product called Hamachi and quickly got snapped up by LogMeIn, who now owns the technology.

“Virtual” VPN

Normal VPN connections make a link into your network using existing IP addresses, including NAT (Network Address Translation) addresses. Hamachi has created what we consider a new segment of the market, and what we call Virtual VPN. You need to set up an account with Hamachi. Then, you install Hamachi on each machine inside and outside your network that you want to be on this new virtual network, and they each get assigned a static IP address from Hamachi’s pool of owned addresses. You’ll have your own, encrypted virtual network up and running quickly.

Here’s a walk-through on how to get it set up:

Create a Hamachi Account and Download the Software

Go to the following web site, and create a new Hamachi account:

https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/vpn.asp

Click the Download Now button. You’ll need to register, including providing a valid email address. On the next page, click the appropriate Download button (there are versions for Windows, Linux, and the Mac OS X).

Installation

Once the software is on your system, double-click the icon and walk through the setup. You’ll note that there are two versions of Hamachi: Basic (which is free) and Premium (which is not free. You can read online about the advantages of the Premium version).

During the installation Hamachi will set up a new ‘Hamachi Network’ network connection.

First Launch

when you first launch Hamachi, you’ll see a Welcome screen, and also Hamachi’s main interface, which will be blank to start:

Hamachi will give you a Quick Guide walk-through of how to use the controls. When you’re ready to launch Hamachi and establish your network, click the Power button.

You’ll be asked to assign your Account a nickname - this is the name of the computer that others will see when they join the network.

Here’s what the Hamachi interface should look like once it’s setup and connected:

and you’ll see a new icon in the Windows taskbar:

Now, you have a ‘node’, but you have not yet created a network. That’s our next step.

Create A Network

Click the Network button, and choose ‘Create a new network‘. You need to create a Network Name; this will be your virtual network name that you’ll use for each station you will add. Give it a Network Password - you’ll need this for each new account setup as well.

When you’ve been successful, you’ll see your network name listed in the box:

Set Up Another Machine to Join the Network

Put the Hamachi installer on a USB key, or even on a floppy disk, and go to another machine that you want to add to your virtual network.

Install as before, but instead of creating a new network, you want to join an existing network, which you can select under network button. You’ll need to enter the Network Name and Network Password.

Repeat for each node you want on your virtual network.

Communicating with other computers on the v-net

To communicate with others on your virtual network, right-click on the computer name. You’ll be able to browse files and folders, share printers, and you’ll even be able to chat IM-style right from within Hamachi!

One Key Rule

The machine from which you first established your new network is considered the ‘master network’ computer. It must be on and must be connected to your virtual network in order for any of the nodes to communicate with any others.

As always, there are more details, which you can explore on your own…

Pretty cool.

- Randy Garland 123 Technology

Microsoft has a definition of what it considers a ’strong’ password, and encourages server administrators to enforce the strong password rules. Here they are:

1. The password must be at least seven (7) characters long

2. The password needs to contain one character from three of the following four categories:

1. UPPERCASE letters
2. lowercase letters
3. numbers
4. characters (such as @, #, &, or *)

Some examples:

Good:      Rac7plq (seven long, one cap, one lowercase, one number)

Bad:        Raadbied (eight long, one cap, one lowercase; missing either a number or a character)

Remember: the password needs to be strong, but you need to be able to remember it!

- Randy Garland  123 Technology