By Heather Hamilton, contributing writer
Programmer Dimitri Raftopoulos, who has experience in software engineering for commercial embedded computers, recently introduced an app called PiTunnel, which connects Raspberry Pi to the world. Typically, these small single-board computers lead a solitary existence (a media player, robots, etc.), which surprised Raftopoulos.
“When I first discovered Raspberry Pi while doing a personal project, I was quite surprised at how little was available for easy remote access to projects you build, so I made PiTunnel,” he said. The app allows users to access Raspberry Pi via a terminal or the web and provides the ability to bring up a command prompt through your browser without compromising security.
PiTunnel has HTTPS security, a built-in live device monitor, HTTP subdomain access, custom tunnels, and TLS tunnel encryption.
TechCrunch reports that Raftopoulos’ self-funded project allows Raspberry Pi to act as a remote monitoring station, a security system, or a remote web server. According to PiTunnel’s website, remote access requires only a single command, and once a user selects the network service they wish to access, they can get to it via Pi Projects on the website or a remote terminal.
“Other services are really focused on Remote Terminals,” he said. “Although PiTunnel has that feature, it’s more about Tunneling, which means you can access any network service that’s running on our Raspberry Pi from anywhere in the world, whether it’s HTTP or some other custom protocol, without bothering to setup complex network routing or static IPs. You can run any service you want over it and make it accessible to everyone in the world or secure it just for your own access.”
Raftopoulos hopes that people will be able to use the app to run anything they want. There is a free option available, though it limits users to one device, one custom tunnel, and a 100-MB-per-day transfer limit. For $5 per month, a person can use two devices, four custom tunnels, and a transfer limit of 200 MB per day — and you’ll get to name your tunnels. The highest-level plan rings in at $15 per month and allows users 10 devices, 50 custom tunnels, 500-MB-per-day transfer limit, priority bandwidth, and named tunnels.
The Raspberry Pi gets a lot of love, but because of its solitary nature, it certainly has a more limited frame of use. Raftopoulos hopes to change that.
Sources: TechCrunch, PiTunnel
Image Source: Pixabay
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