[Server-devel] physical security issue

Wed Oct 8 14:22:43 EDT 2008

Recommend: lockable, secure case, with built-in securement loops that could
attach to a bike chain or cable.

--HH.

On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:37 PM, John Watlington <wad at laptop.org> wrote:

>
> Sameer,
>    We currently do not recommend that an AA be used in schools.
> Scalability with AAs is a problem, due to problems with the mesh
> protocols.   Hence my comment about likely needing an external
> USB/network interface for the upstream connection.
>
> This might make the physical security problem easier to solve,
> as now the server can be located anywhere in the school, and
> only the AP needs to be positioned for optimum wireless coverage.
>
> wad
>
> On Oct 8, 2008, at 1:23 PM, Sameer Verma wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 8:42 PM, John Watlington <wad at laptop.org>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> Actually, Walter, we still hold hope for XOs as school servers
> >> for very small schools.    The problem with this is insufficient
> >> memory and insufficient disk space.   While an external disk
> >> may alleviate the second problem, it has poor reliability and
> >> is a very attractive item for theft.
> >>
> >> But there is nothing stopping a regular laptop from serving
> >> as a school server.   An external network interface may be
> >> needed for the upstream connection.
> >>
> >> wad
> >>
> >
> > We do have a laptop (Fujitsu P2120@ approx. 900MHz Crusoe + 384 MB
> > RAM) that works as a school server (XS 0.4) for OLPC-SF meetings, but
> > it doesn't see more than 20~30 laptops via one AA, so scalability
> > isn't something we've tested on it. Of course, if the laptop were more
> > powerful and had more RAM, it should scale up.
> >
> > A couple of people at OLPC-SF have suggested alternatives like the one
> > I mentioned for places that can afford to have a lot of bandwidth
> > dropped in (donated) by a provider. I just wanted to ping the list and
> > see if anyone else has thought along this route. If/when anything
> > develops on our end, I'll post it here.
> >
> > cheers,
> > Sameer
> > --
> > Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
> > Associate Professor of Information Systems
> > San Francisco State University
> > San Francisco CA 94132 USA
> > http://verma.sfsu.edu/
> > http://opensource.sfsu.edu/
> >
> >> On Oct 7, 2008, at 11:25 PM, Walter Bender wrote:
> >>
> >>> Clarification: the XO is not the laptop I am proposing for the
> >>> server.
> >>> Wad can speak to this.
> >>>
> >>> -walter
> >>>
> >>> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 11:24 PM, Walter Bender
> >>> <walter.bender at gmail.com>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> One idealet (not worthy of being called an idea): What if the
> >>>> server
> >>>> were a laptop that the teacher could take with him/her? Pros: The
> >>>> school need not be secure. Cons: Price, and of course, laptops
> >>>> can be
> >>>> stolen. But it does put the server in the hands of a presumably
> >>>> trusted individual in the community.
> >>>>
> >>>> -walter
> >>>>
> >>>> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 11:20 PM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu>
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 8:00 PM, John Watlington
> >>>>> <wad at laptop.org> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> You keep pushing for centrally hosted school servers.
> >>>>>> Are you sure you don't work for the phone company ?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Last time I checked, San Francisco State University wasn't in the
> >>>>> telco business.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> Again, unless you have a 100 Mbit connection from the
> >>>>>> school to the upstream ISP, you will need something with
> >>>>>> a disk and a significant amount of memory present in the
> >>>>>> school.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> OK.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> I don't disagree about the need for physical security of
> >>>>>> the machine, just the proposed solution.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> OK. Any other solutions? I'm all ears.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Sameer
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> wad
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On Oct 7, 2008, at 10:47 PM, Sameer Verma wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> As if discussions on this list aren't lively enough, here's
> >>>>>>> another
> >>>>>>> issue to look at.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> While I was in Jamaica, I met with several people who work
> >>>>>>> with their
> >>>>>>> school districts, and many pointed out that if a server was
> >>>>>>> to stay
> >>>>>>> physically resident at the school, it will need a lot of
> >>>>>>> physical
> >>>>>>> security. The most common problem is theft. The other problem
> >>>>>>> will be
> >>>>>>> physical damage (just because somebody can). It is not
> >>>>>>> uncommon in
> >>>>>>> some of these
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> If the school server is hosted at an ISP upstream, we need
> >>>>>>> something
> >>>>>>> small (maybe an XO?) at the school that can VLAN or VPN over
> >>>>>>> to the
> >>>>>>> school server at the ISP/Data Center.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Any ideas?
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> cheers,
> >>>>>>> Sameer
> >>>>>>> --
> >>>>>>> Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
> >>>>>>> Associate Professor of Information Systems
> >>>>>>> San Francisco State University
> >>>>>>> San Francisco CA 94132 USA
> >>>>>>> http://verma.sfsu.edu/
> >>>>>>> http://opensource.sfsu.edu/
> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>>>> Server-devel mailing list
> >>>>>>> Server-devel at lists.laptop.org
> >>>>>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
> >>>>>
> >>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>> Server-devel mailing list
> >>>>> Server-devel at lists.laptop.org
> >>>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Walter Bender
> >>>> Sugar Labs
> >>>> http://www.sugarlabs.org
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Walter Bender
> >>> Sugar Labs
> >>> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Server-devel mailing list
> Server-devel at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
>

-- 
"Information wants to be free, and code wants to be wrong." --Steve Gibson,
Security Now! #141, April 24, 2008
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/server-devel/attachments/20081008/db0726f1/attachment-0001.htm 