I have been told that reverse tunnels can be created using SSH or I can solve the problem the big way and create a VPN. Both these methods are heavy-weight. For the SSH tunneling I need an SSH server on both sides, for VPN I need a VPN server and a client (and setting it up is a nightmare). SSH is simple, but on windows I have no way to get a lightweight SSH server (cygwin is too much, OpenSSH's last windows release is several years old). All I want is a lightweight program/script which does only one thing: reverse tunneling connections. An SSH server or a VPN is just too much. Any suggestions?
Best Answer
Indeed I agree with Jimsmithkka.
An ssh server gives you the greatest flexibility. You just setup the tunnels as you need them. Since ssh can do reverse tunnels with -R or forward tunnels with -L you only need one ssh server.
Hamachi is a decent alternative but you are relying on their peering service to work. If their service goes down so does your p2p vpn.
I think ssh is almost the lightest weight tunnel you can find. You could of course use netcat but yes it has to be installed too and the traffic is not encrypted.