George:
I have a computer at home that I'm doing some research on and I set up
an SSH server on it so I can access it from other computers at home. I
haven't opened up the network to the internet yet though, as I'm not
confident enough that it is safe.
If you only allowing key-based authentication and install security
patches in a timely manner, the risk from running a public OpenSSH
server is low. Expect brute-force attempts to login using weak
passwords, though. If you only allow key logins, you can ignore that.
What are the configuration steps that I will need to do on the server
You probably need to configure a port forwarding on your router to port
22 on the server running OpenSSH. Additionally, you may want to use a
service like dyndns.com so that you can connect to your machine using a
stable hostname instead of a dynamically changing IP address.
and the client to be able to work access the computer from my
workplace?
On a Windows system, I recommend using PuTTY. You don't need any special
configuration.
Be aware that using SSH from an untrusted host is a bad idea. If you
don't trust your employer, don't put your private key file one of his
systems and don't enter your passphrase either.
J.