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Re: secure X terminal? (was: 12 box network...)



on Tue, May 22, 2001 at 03:35:28PM -0700, Chris Majewski (majewski@cs.ubc.ca) wrote:
> On  an only  slightly related  note, has  anyone some  experience with
> secure X terminals? The i686 box on  my desk is noisy. I would like to
> replace it with an X terminal,  but the X connection must be secure (I
> type various  root passwords  and stuff into  this box).  I'm thinking
> about a quiet diskless i486, running X over ssh. Anybody done this? 
> Or are there any products out there that do this out-of-the-box? 
> -chris

Depends on how you configure your network.  I've noticed that there's a
serious hit in performance progressing as:

  - Locally served X apps
  - Remotely served X apps - high-action games become untenable
  - ssh-tunneled X apps - highly-rendered text/graphics apps tend to get
    more sluggish, though basic apps (particularly terminal apps) work.

A through-wired X term, say null cable or switched network, might be
acceptable and minimize sniffing risks.  Otherwise, you're going to see
some performance penalties.  They may be acceptable, depends on your
workload.

-- 
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com>    http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
 What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?       There is no K5 cabal
  http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/         http://www.kuro5hin.org
   Disclaimer:          http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/stupid-disclaimers/

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