LogMeIn Serves Up Hamachi VPN Service
Called Hamachi, the service removes the complexity of tying together multiple network connections and simplifies the setup of machine-to-machine connectivity, making it ideal for small and midsize businesses without an IT staff, said Mike Simon, CEO of LogMeIn, Woburn, Mass.
The Hamachi software is installed on the local and remote machines and uses a virtual network adapter to link up to 256 PCs.
The service scales well in contrast to the bottleneck issues that can sometimes occur with encrypted data transmission on appliance-based solutions, Simon said. "What's unique is that it has a neutral mediation service, so you're not forcing one side or the other to do special configuration," he said.
Ken Wiebe, senior technical analyst at Mighty Oaks, a Victoria, British Columbia-based solution provider, said his customers are enamored with Hamachi's simplicity. "You don't need a VPN client, and you don't have to worry about what kind of firewall they're running," he said.
LogMeIn has more than 28,000 solution provider partners, selling the services primarily into the SMB space, Simon said.
"With Hamachi, workers on the road with laptops can tap into remote invoicing systems without using additional software, and access live data through the SQL servers," said Keith Schiehl, president of Rent-A-Geek Computer Services, an Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, solution provider. It's also possible to combine Hamachi with LogMeIn's backup service to set up a remote machine that provides secure off-site data backup capability, he added.
Prior to Hamachi's launch, about five million users had downloaded the beta version of the software since LogMeIn made it available in early 2005, Simon said.
Hamachi is available now and can be downloaded from LogMeIn's Web site. It includes a free version with limited functionality, as well as a premium service with all features enabled that starts at $39 per seat annually.