vpn

vpn ?

VPN software lets you join private networks as though you're sitting at a local computer on that network, giving you access to shared folders and tons more handy stuff. Here's a look at five of the most popular VPN tools.

There's no place like home when it comes to security, and VPNs allow you to connect into a home network securely from a remote location.

VPN software brings the security of a private network to an insecure network, and allows you to access private local networks from anywhere. As we've explained in the past, you can do things between computers on your local network you can't from out on the internet: like listen to a shared iTunes library or access files in shared folders. Virtual private network applications give you access to your computer from anywhere on the internet as if you were home on your local network. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite software for establishing and maintaining virtual private networks. We rounded up the votes, and now we're back with the five most popular VPN applications.

If you're new to the idea of virtual private networks, you can read up on the technical nitty-gritty at the Wikipedia entry for VPNs. Note: This Hive Five contains both VPN server applications (the apps that create virtual private networks on your local network so it's accessible from the outside world) and VPN client applications (the apps that connect to virtual private networks from the outside world). In many instances companies produce VPN servers, VPN clients, VPN servers with accompanying clients, or VPN clients that are designed to work with a variety of servers.

OpenVPN (Windows/Mac/Linux, Free)

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OpenVPN is an open source VPN server that's easy to set up for use with open source VPN clients. You can easily export configuration files from OpenVPN to import into a variety of open source and commercial clients. OpenVPN is also integrated into several router firmware packages including popular DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato. The OpenVPN system isn't compatible with popular commercial VPN providers, but it provides an open source and free alternative for setting up VPNs to expensive and closed commercial models