Technology1 min read

I wish I had Tailscale when I was at university

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

During the mid-2010s, academic workflows in computer science and game development were hindered by landlord-controlled routers that blocked port forwarding, limiting remote desktop access. Tailscale creates a private tailnet that circumvents these barriers, allowing students to access desktop setups over university breaks via MagicDNS and utilize Taildrive for direct folder sharing. This approach enables students to offload intensive tasks like scene rendering from aging campus laptops to powerful home machines. Additionally, it secures student cloud infrastructure on platforms like AWS or DigitalOcean by keeping public ports closed.

Key points

  • Tailscale establishes private tailnet networks between devices without demanding dynamic…: Tailscale establishes private tailnet networks between devices without demanding dynamic DNS or exposed internet services.
  • Students can securely reach cloud projects hosted on platforms like DigitalOcean while ke…: Students can securely reach cloud projects hosted on platforms like DigitalOcean while keeping all public ports closed.
  • The software facilitates reliable remote development environments and seamless machine ac…: The software facilitates reliable remote development environments and seamless machine access during university breaks using MagicDNS.

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I was at university in the mid-2010s, studying Computer Science and Games Development. I had a classic setup: a desktop in my room which was honestly more for gaming than studying, and an aging Windows 7 laptop that took many minutes to boot. I also had an early Raspberry Pi that I’d bought with big plans.

All my work moved between these machines through a mix of Git, Dropbox, and USB sticks. Games projects were the real issue for me. It was painful putting binary assets like 3D models and textures into Git, and Git LFS wasn’t widely available yet. Dropbox’s storage limits and costs meant I was constantly shuffling projects on and off it, so more often than not I was using USB sticks to ferry assets back and forth between my desktop, laptop, and the high-spec lab machines at the university.

Tailscale didn’t exist back then. Looking back, it would have solved most of these for me and more. Here’s what I’d do differently if I was at university today.

My devices on one private network

My most…

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