Fun with VPNs

[thatbox]

Virtual Private Networks. Heres the deal: When I go off to college next year, I'm going to have a lappy. I cant bring myself to part with this faithful 1600+ though, so im going to be bringing it along as well. first of all, ill be setting up me the linux on the desktop. i hope to use it as a sort of file server (via VPN) so that i wont have to fill up my laptops hard drive with all of my stuff but will still have access from anywhere on campus. this is assuming VPNs are possible between linux and windows boxes -- im not a big networking guy, so i dont know. sound doable?

 

[skyking]

You do not need VPN, SSH is fine for transferring files and controlling your linux box with CLI. There are free downloads of SSH client for windows.

 

[Need4Speed]

ssh is all you need

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Need4Speed
ssh is all you need

...not to mention that most schools block VPN tunnels...or at least mine did..or at least that's what a firend told me when I was about to set one up....

 

[martind1]

vpn is more than you need according to your description.

you can set up sharing for the two machines, and worse comes to worse, could use ftp as well.


vpn isn't ideal for this situation. if you left your desktop at your house and wanted to send files to it from college vpn might be a solution.

here it is overkill.

 

[buleyb]

SSH sounds like a solid solution, and be mindful of the security martind1, SMB, ftp are not secure by themselves...

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: buleyb
SSH sounds like a solid solution, and be mindful of the security martind1, SMB, ftp are not secure by themselves...

right...al clear text.
install ssh and then use SFTP for transfering files. the speed would be as fast as ftp on a LAN, but its secure, which is more important IMHO.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Need4Speed

Originally posted by: buleyb
SSH sounds like a solid solution, and be mindful of the security martind1, SMB, ftp are not secure by themselves...

right...al clear text.
install ssh and then use SFTP for transfering files. the speed would be as fast as ftp on a LAN, but its secure, which is more important IMHO.

u can use it for VNC too....mmmmmmmmmmm

 

[groovin]

ssh all the way for what u need.

but, if youre interested in linux and opensource software, blah blah blah... you might want to play with a linux vpn like Free S/WAN just for the learning fun (and headaches).

 

[thatbox]

Alright, SSH. I've never heard of SSH. I did some googling and it sounds nice (i mainly was looking at OpenSSH). Heres the deal: This is my first foray into the world of Linux, and im planning on redhat or mandrake of some flavor. First, is setting up an SSH deal between my two computers (Linux and Windows) going to be /relatively/ easy, or will it be a massive pain? Secondly, what are the differences between VPN and SSH? Like I said, im not a network guy, and ive actually never set up a VPN either.

 

[skyking]

I ONLY deal with freebsd servers, and it is installed by default on the server side. Depending on your flavor of linux, you may have it installed too.
The client for your windows box is Here, 3.2.5.exe

It is about as easy to implement as can be.

Edit: VPN allows a user to log in to an entire network or a computer.
SSH is a method of logging into a specific computer. Both are encrypted tunnels.

 

[groovin]

i like red hat 8 (havent used 9 yet). it installs and enables ssh for you.

i prefer to use putty in windows as the ssh client. look for pscp as well (windows)... its great for file transfers and you can probaly write some .bat files to make tranfering of files pretty easy.