[PLUG] Internet data site with Samba and SSH

[Benjamin Prew]

Hey,

I have been running a problem around in my head for a little while and I
was wondering if I could get some feedback from the list.

The Problem
-----------
I would like a way to access several remote files (resume, cover letter,
.vimrc, etc) in a transparent and very easy way.  Preferrably as a
seperate drive in windows or as a mount point in Linux.  I would like to
read,edit/update or add new files quickly and easily.  So far, when I
have needed to access these files I have been on broadband connections,
so throughput usually isn't a problem.  


The Solution
------------
Use Samba over a port forwarded SSH connection.  Unfortunately, I'm not
sure how safe Samba on the Internet is, even over an SSH connection. I
was planning on using ssh keys, rather then a password, since from what
I understand this is more secure then passing the encrypted password. 

I have thought about using FTP, but I would like to maintain a
persistent connection throughout an 8-hour day, and I would like to keep
all the files in one location, rather then download them, edit them, and
re-upload them.  

I have thought about using CVS, but it isn't as natural as having a
mount point and requires extra software installs on most windows
machines.


The Questions
-------------
Is samba safe enough?  I know nothing is ever completely "safe", but
using ssh should be as secure as making an ssh connection to another
server, which I am willing to accept as "secure-enough".

I haven't done much ssh port forwarding before and I was wondering if I
could get an abstraction of this problem.  For example, would I be
connecting to port 137 on the remote machine, or would I use port 22? 
I'm a little unclear on how port forwarding works.  

Has anyone done anything similar to this before?  How did you approach
this problem?


My network
----------

the Internet comes in as Comcast broadband, which goes through a router
running freesco.  

Freesco allows me to forward ports from the internet to local machines,
so I will forward the required port to my 700mhz RH9 machine.  

RH9 runs samba and openssh, and should handle all the connections.

Thanks

-- 
Ben Prew <bprew at logiccloud.com>
http://www.logiccloud.com
*Technology solutions for small business