Jacob's Insidious Ramblings

One of the many things on my plate is trying to get a Linux-based kiosk working for where I work. I have to get it stable then lock it down but make it still useable. I plan to use Firefox as the browser as it works rather well in Windows and Linux. I wanted to use Debian because of how easy it is to update but it is a pain to use new stuff in package format. I am trying out the distrobution named “Ubuntu”. It is based off of Debian and offers regular security updates for 18 months per release. Each release comes out every 6 months so this should be interesting.

A question was presented to me today regarding authentication methods for Windows 2000 servers(and *nix ones) across the Internet so only one login is necessary. While I think there are a few fielded answers, finding one to implement that is secure is not necessarily easy. RADIUS was proposed but Windows 2000 I am not sure supports it. I have found it can run a server for that auth. method so when I do further research maybe it will be viable. Another possible type is LDAP. The problem with LDAP is that from what I have been looking at, you have to rig Windows a bit differently to auth. on it but might be worth a shot if done through SSL or some other secure method. Kerberos might show some promise. It looks like no easy way exists but I do not plan to give up that easily.

More on this later…maybe…

I finally got my Win2k Server running again. I got a storage repository again. w00t… I still have it sitting on the bench though making sure it works fine before I hold the heavy-assed thing in the air with one arm and screw it back into the rack(yes, the case is rack-mountable). Once this one is done and put in the closet I am hoping to get to the FreeBSD box and this time get it the exact way I want to right after an install.

Time has not been kind to me. I have to soon find time to get my Windows 2000 server going again and I plan to rebuild my Unix server that is running FreeBSD. I might wait until the 5.x series goes to stable if it has not already. It really depends on my mood of course. Once I get the Win2k Server back going it will be my primary file server for my wife and I. I plan to figure out a way to do monthly backups of the data on it just in case. The FreeBSD box is still running www.lackofpants.com on my home connection. Currently it is using 4.9 Release. While I may trust FreeBSD more than Windows I do know that no OS is perfect security wise so I have the BSD box behind a DMZ with only the necessary port(s) forwarded to that machine. It is totally seperated from the rest of my network as it should be.

Kramer was revived and is working again. I do not, as of yet, have Active Directory enabled on it but it is working fine as a local file server again. Now, my main system can back itself up to somewhere again. I am working on a computer right now that I am thinking of calling “Beast”. It might end up storing all the extra hard drives that are of any decent size, become the file server, and Active Directory Controller. Kramer I think will become a mail server for lackofpants.com. I plan to leave the two 20gig hard drives in it. Well, I gotta get back to what I was working on. Later…