Back to My Mac

Back to My Mac is a feature introduced with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) that uses Wide-Area Bonjour to securely discover services across the Internet and automatically configure ad hoc, on-demand, point-to-point encrypted connections between computers using IPsec. It requires users to have iCloud set up, as well as an Apple ID.

Due to its generality, Back to My Mac can work for many Bonjour-enabled services, not just Screen Sharing (similar to Apple Remote Desktop) and File Sharing. Users must have a router that supports either Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) or NAT Port Mapping Protocol (NAT-PMP) with either of those features enabled in their connected router. It uses UDP port 4500 for point-to-point IPsec connections (which may be mapped to different UDP ports on the public side of a NAT router).[1][2]

As of October 12, 2011, Apple has included Back to My Mac in its iCloud service rather than the previously used MobileMe, thus making it free to use.[3]

Uses

Back to My Mac can be used to edit and transfer files from one Mac to another. In one instance an Apple Store employee used this technology to capture the image of a person who stole her MacBook using the built in iSight webcam.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Glenn Fleishman, Back to My Mac: Apple's Internet mashup, MacWorld.com, 7 November 2007
  2. ↑ "RFC 6281: Understanding Apple's Back to My Mac (BTMM) Service". June 2011.
  3. ↑ Transition from MobileMe to iCloud,,"Apple.com",12 October 2011
  4. ↑ Using Back to My Mac… to Catch a Thief!, RoughlyDrafted, 15 April 2008
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