Openfiler is one of two free and open source NAS/SAN applications in active development (the other one is FreeNAS). By default, Openfiler is installed to hard disk using the traditional Linux disk partitioning system. Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM) adds a layer of flexibility to disk space configuration and management that is not possible with the traditional method of disk partitioning. Fedora, Debian and Mandriva have installers with automatic LVM partitioning features. With Openfiler, however, your only option is by manual configuration. This tutorial offers a step-by-step guide to installing Openfiler on disk using LVM.
By default, Openfiler creates the following partitions – the sizes are in parenthesis:
- /boot (101 MB)
- swap (1020 MB)
- / (the rest of the disk space is allocated to the /, the main system partition)
Securing a computer goes beyond more than just using strong passwords. You should consider what happens if an unauthorized person gains physical access to your computer. If the only security feature protecting your data from an unauthorized person is a user account password, then you have not taken enough steps to protect your computer and your data. This article presents all the steps you could take to enhance the physical security of your Linux- or BSD-powered computer
- Set a BIOS Password – PC vendors generally configure their computers to boot from the hard disk, and failing that, to boot from the CD drive or other removable media. You can change this boot order by going into the BIOS setup. To prevent unauthorized persons from accessing the BIOS setup, you should enable the BIOS password. Enabling the BIOS pawword may also be used to prevent the system from booting.
Universal identification is portrayed by some as the holy grail of Internet security. Anonymity is bad, the argument goes; and if we abolish it, we can ensure only the proper people have access to their own information. We’ll know who is sending us spam and who is trying to hack into corporate networks. And when there are massive denial-of-service attacks, such as those against Estonia or Georgia or South Korea, we’ll know who was responsible and take action accordingly.
The problem is that it won’t work. Any design of the Internet must allow for anonymity. Universal identification is impossible. Even attribution — knowing who is responsible for particular Internet packets — is impossible. Attempting to build such a system is futile, and will only give criminals and hackers new ways to hide.
The FreeNAS project (http://freenas.org/freenas), founded by Olivier Cochard-Labbé in 2005, is an open source network attached storage distribution. The project offers a simple, elegant way for home users and network administrators to host data on a small, stable platform at very low cost. Back in December there was talk of the FreeNAS project moving away from its FreeBSD roots and using Debian as the base for future releases. A short time later, iXsystems offered to the take the FreeNAS project under the company’s wing and continue development using the FreeBSD platform. M. Cochard-Labbé was kind enough to take a few minutes from his busy schedule to talk about the project.
BSD Mag: Monsieur Cochard-Labbé, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. To start, would you please tell us a little about yourself? Where you are from and how you became interested in open source?
Remember when Internet Explorer ruled the Web, to the tune of about 98% of the browser market share? Those were happy days for Internet Explorer. Until Firefox rose from the ashes of Netscape. Internet Explorer’s market share has been sliding ever since, and I think it got worse when Safari and then Google’s Chrome joined the browser market.
A new report shows that that slide has put Internet Explorer’s market share at just under 60%. That’s still a majority share, but nowhere near the 98% it used to be. The report by AT Internet Institute, a Web analytics and online intelligence outfit based in Mérignac France, shows that from June to December 2009, Internet Explorer lost about 3% of its market share in Europe. Within the same time period, Firefox gained 1.1%, Google’s Chrome 2%, and Safari just about 1%. Not major gains by the way, but they are not exactly standing still. The only well known browser that did not record any gains in market share was Opera. At 2.3%, its market share’s just .a tad higher than the 2.2% it recorded in the same time frame a year earlier.
Our campaign for computer user freedom, Windows 7 Sins, now has 6 language translations available with several more on the way.
The translation effort, coordinated by FSF campaigns staff working with volunteer translators, has been gathering pace over the last few months. All the work has been done using free software tools with our collaboration efforts achieved via the GNU Mailman software. The first translation to go live was French, translated by members of the French activist organization, April.
Disk encryption in one of the most overlooked and underused security tools in computing. When most people think about securing a computer or the operating system that powers it, a firewall, anti-virus, and other anti-malware software comes to mind. Those are all good and necessary tools, but they are only concerned with network security. What about physical security? What happens if someone gains unauthorized, physical access to your computer? Even with all the fancy firewall and other network security tools running, If the disk is not encrypted, check mate! Your data is now shared.
The first online edition of BSD Magazine, a magazine for BSD users, enthusiasts and communities, has been released. This edition is titled “BSDs as Servers.” Inside you’ll find the following list of articles:
- A first look at PC-BSD 8
- Installing and securing an Apache Jail with SSL on FreeBSD
- The gemstones for FreeBSD
- OpenBSD, NetBSD and FreeBSD as file sharing servers – Part 1 – NFS
Pardus is a Linux, desktop-oriented operating system developed by Onur Küçük and his team from Turkey. At a time when nearly every new Linux distro is based on or derived from Ubuntu, Pardus is a rarity. It is an original, not based on or derived from any other distro. As such, its package manager and graphical management tools are custom-developed. This article is a review of Pardus 2009.1, the latest stable release.
Installation YALI (Yet Another Linux Installer), is the graphical installation program for Pardus. It’s a very basic installation program, lacking support for setting up LVM, RAID, and disk encryption. Unlike other Linux operating systems, Pardus only allows for the creation of four partitions. Aside from the main system partition, you may also create a:
Pardus is a desktop-oriented, Linux distribution. The latest release is Pardus 2009.1, and just like Pardus 2009, it comes with IPTables/Netfilter, the firewall application built in to the Linux kernel, disabled. This is a short tutorial showing how to enable the firewall via the graphical firewall manager, and tweak the configuration options available.
It’s always better, whether there are open ports or not, to have IPTables/Netfilter running out of the box. However, distros like Pardus opt to have the firewall disabled. Don’t know why, but that’s just the way it is with some of these distros.
Pardus 2009.1 is the latest release of the desktop-oriented, Linux distribution from Onur Küçük and his crew in Turkey. It is one of those distros that does not automatically configure your Internet connection. You are expected to configure it from Kaptan, the Pardus system modifier, or from the network manager applet.. This tutorial gives a step by step guide of how to configure a wired network interface on an installation of Pardus 2009.1.
The steps would be just about the same if you were setting up a wireless connection profile. To begin, right-click on the network manager applet on the panel and select “Open Network Manager.”
“The Federal Trade Commission will host a series of day-long public roundtable discussions to explore the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data. Such practices include social networking, cloud computing, online behavioral advertising, mobile marketing, and the collection and use of information by retailers, data brokers, third-party applications, and other diverse businesses. The goal of the roundtables is to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses of the information and technological innovation.”
This roundtable was held at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hallp, and webcast for the rest of us not able to attend.
iBad
Apple’s new iPad is going to be a laptop supplement for some early-adopters, a laptop replacement for others, and a laptop instead-of for still other users, including some
surprising late-adopters.
In other words, it’s going to be the computer of choice for a number of us, perhaps millions of us, perhaps, if the iPhone is any guide, tens of millions of us.
But if it’s not an eBook reader, it’s also not a computer — at least, it’s not a computer that can take its place within the thirty year tradition of open computing that has marked the PC era.
1) What is Privacy by Design?
CDT has submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission for the second in a series of public roundtable discussions the agency is sponsoring exploring the privacy challenges posed by 21st-century technology and business practices that involve the collection and use of consumer data. CDT views these roundtable sessions as a historic opportunity for the FTC to develop and announce a comprehensive privacy protection policy for the next decade.
