alt Hacker NewsYou are describing the product technically, but I find how it is used more important. Do you use it? What do you use it for? If empirically most users use it to host a server on a machine with firewalled IP, then that's more descriptive than its technical featureset as listed on the tin.
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i personally have used it * to provide access to my home network, as though i am on the home network, while outside of said network * to connect several locations to the same business network
the first lets me provide locally hosted services without exposing them to the internet, by allowing members of the VPN ("tailnet" in their parlance) to connect to those services
the second was very handy to move a few users from a company in the process of shutting down to their homes, so they could continue to work like they had in the company network once the actual internal company network was shut down.
I don't think any of us could know how most users use it.
I've been running a home server and Tailscale is magic. My firewalls have no open ports. The tailnet is a virtual network that assigns IP addresses to approved devices that you authenticate to join.
I use it in 3 ways:
1. My phone connects to my home network by joining the tailnet. I can play music and movies from my home server when I am away. No struggles with configuration. 2. A dedicated mini pc at home is on a smart plug. I keep it powered off mostly. I can turn the plug on remotely and power the mini pc. It runs "tailscale --advertise-routes" which then exposes every device at my house to the tailnet. No open ports, but suddenly my phone thinks that it is back at home with all my home PCs. 3. I take my laptop with me and use "tailscale serve" which serves as a pipe. I can pipe my home movies to a smart TV at your house. Just install the jellyfin app, and browse for servers, and my server in my house appears in the list at your house.