Networking is an essential tool in every office. Employees use the network as a hub to share data with each other rough the mutual server. This isn't the case at home because usually there is just a single PC at home. However, in this era, it is quite familiar to work on different systems throughout the day-from the PC at home to the PC in office and maybe a laptop in between.

You most probably must have experienced the need for a network between all the computers you work on, which are based
in different locations-especially on those days when you have forgotten some files at home which were required at office. Well, for temporary times like these, we have found a permanent solution! It's a Virtual Private Network (VPN) freeware called Hamachi.You can team up a VPN with a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) freeware such as Ultra VNC and you are set to network between all the computers you work on, ooly provided that they are all online.

HOW IT WORKS: You need to download Hamachi and Ultra VNC (see box below for links). You can use Hamachi to network between two online computers via an Internet network which you are using. To view a computer from a remote location, you need VNC (in this workshop, we have used Ultra VNC). So, once you have configured both of these-a VPN and VNC-you can set up a network online between computers in remote locations and view their respective screens. You can also copy files to and fro by performing the standard sharing procedure on the folders that you would like to share. So there, you are ready to be allover and well connected. You can also use this to network with your friends and family besides you can use this as a LAN for gaming.

STEP 1: Install Hamachi (available on the CHIP DVD this month). You can also download it from the links listed in the box. The installation is the usual procedure and is quite simple. The fourth screen in the installation is a security prompt which you can check or uncheck according to your preference and security. The fifth screen in the installation prompts you to choose between 'Basic' and 'Premium' versions. It's recommended to choose the trial 'Premium' version which anyway switches to 'Basic' after the 30 day trial period is over.

STEP 2: Once Hamachi is installed, you can start it from the system tray or the Start menu which depends on how you customized this option during the installation. The first time you start Hamachi, you will be prompted to register yourself (it's free) to get an I P. You can provide a nickname at this point. After probing the connection, Hamachi will display your nickname and your IP at the top of its simplistic interface. The interface has nothing more than three tabs-power, create or join network, and configure Hamachi.



STEP 3: After configuring Hamachi, you can create your own network (similar to a workgroup) by clicking on the 'create or join network' tab. You will have to feed in a network name and a password to create a new network. For instance, we named it, 'chip tc'. The computer you create a network from will be the host. So, let's suppose you create the network from your computer at home and you intend to control your computer at office, the computer at home will become the host and the computer at office will login as a guest on to the created network.

STEP 4: You need to install Hamachi on all the other computers which you wish to network with. Carry out Steps 1-3 on the other computers, for instance, your office computer. But here, instead of creating a network, you have to click 'join a network' after you have configured Hamachi and received an IP for this computer. Punch in the network name you created at home and put in the network password you had input on the home computer. Once you do this, you will see the host network, in this case 'chip tc', on Hamachi on your office computer. This means that you have networked with the computer at home from your office computer.

STEP 5: Remember that if your computer is connected via a proxy setting in either of the locations, you need to configure that in Hamachi through 'Preferences I Detailed Configuration'. Once connected with the other computer(s), you have the option to chat with the other users by clicking on the displayed user.

In case, your network gets bigger and busier, and you have too many unwanted users, you also have the option to evict a user and block a user from a network (if you are the host on the network). You can even try a ping test to check whether you are connected. Currently, Hamachi does not support voice chat or video chat.

STEP 6: Now, to control both computers from each other, all you need to do is, make another network from the 'office' computer and join that network from the 'home' computer. This way, you have a network host on both sides and you can control it either ways. However, unless you have Remote Desktop Connection or VNC software, you will only have networked between two computers which you can't do much with. To actually, advance the use of Hamachi, you need to configure a VNC on both computers so that you can see both desktops from both locations and share files if necessary.