Moving over
What it takes
Your forwarding rules become route assignments on connection definitions: written once per machine, applied every time you open any of its protocols.
You already think in tunnels
Bitvise is the client for people who read the port-forwarding rules before the release notes. Vandle turns that discipline into a property of every connection instead of a window you have to keep open.
Credit where it is due
Bitvise has one of the most precise tunnelling interfaces ever shipped: client-to-server and server-to-client rules, SOCKS and HTTP proxying, and a command line that behaves under automation.
What changes
Four things you get that you did not have.
- A route belongs to the connection record, so opening the connection opens the route. There is nothing to start first.
- A tunnelled path that needs no open inbound port on the far side and works from wherever you happen to be.
- The exit is visible: active route, latency and exit address are shown on the running session instead of inferred from a log.
- The same client, with the same rules, on Linux and macOS.
Side by side
Bitvise SSH Client and Vandle
| Aspect | Bitvise SSH Client | Vandle |
|---|---|---|
| Tunnels | Per-session forwarding rules | Per-connection route, opened with the connection |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, Linux, macOS |
| Visibility | Log window | Live latency, throughput and exit address on the session |
| Scope | SSH and SFTP | SSH, SFTP, WebDAV, RDP, the web and local shells |
And the rest of it
Four more protocols came along
Replacing one tool gets you five. Whatever else that machine speaks is already a row on the same record - and every one of them takes the route you assigned.
Web
Real browsing, properly routed
SSH
A terminal that keeps up
SFTP
Two remote panes, no detour
WebDAV
The other half of file transfer
RDP
Desktops on a native surface
Local
Your own machine, in the same list
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