21–30 of 78 posts
Just curious, if you already have decent hosting couldn't you just implement this by installing openvpn on your existing virtual machine (or whatever)? Is there anything which specifically requires EC2?
I'm use my LinkSys router loaded with a Linux firmware to do this at no additional costs. I wrote up how I did it, http://ronnie.me/articles/rdp_over_ssh_with_a_linksys_router
When I read the original article, I thought "Why can't every consumer have this who has home broadband?" I'm sure comcast would not like it, and the dynamic ip issue.
Better choice than a lot of the VPN services out there. The free services should be presumed to have some sort of ulterior motive to get a look at your traffic (including, potentially, much more nefarious ones than a firesheep user). Even premium services should be considered carefully, you have little way of knowing what amount of tracking or inspection of your packets is going on - and such concentrators make an ex…
Just curious, if you already have decent hosting couldn't you just implement this by installing openvpn on your existing virtual machine (or whatever)? Is there anything which specifically requires EC2?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
SideStep basically automates ssh -D for you and sets up a local SOCKS proxy. However SOCKS proxies (and thus the current version of Sidestep) can only protect TCP traffic that supports SOCKS proxies. For example, you can't tunnel your DNS requests over a proxy (without tinkering with Firefox's about:config). Also, since ssh -D is not a true VPN tunnel, your machine is exposed to the hostile network (if you don't have…
Thanks for the explanation! There are a few things I don't understand fully, could you please talk a bit more? “since ssh -D is not a true VPN tunnel, your machine is exposed to the hostile network (if you don't have a firewall).” I believe on OS X the SOCKS proxy is applied globally, unlike Windows where you have to do per-application settings. So aside from DNS queries, I guess other TCP connections should go throu…
OpenVPN in the configuration of the blog post utilizes 443/tcp, which is open at most places, while the ports required for PPTP/L2TP/IPSec could be closed.
It's worth noting that the quoted "$0.50 a month" only applies for the first year, after which it will cost $0.02 an hour or ~$15 a month.
Seems like a perfect use case for EC2 on demand. Only run the VPN node when you are on an open wireless network and need the VPN security. Shut it down otherwise. That would make it harder to run, but it would greatly reduce the cost. I'd pay $0.02 for an hour's worth of security while stopping off at a coffee shop.
The API-based management is what makes cloud providers really special.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I read the original article, I thought "Why can't every consumer have this who has home broadband?" I'm sure comcast would not like it, and the dynamic ip issue.
I use the router to solve the dynamic IP issue. It updates to http://www.dyndns.com when my IP address changes.
The goal of the post was for folks who don't already have a solution setup and to get people familiar with EC2 now that it has a Free Tier and see some of the "not so obvious" things we can do with.
this sounds like a pretty viable business idea, actually. in the past, i've looked for a simple VPN service provider to help secure non-techie friends' laptop work at a starbucks or whatever. couldn't find anything decent. seems like people might be willing to pay some $ for this if it were turned into something commercialized.
AlwaysVPN is what I use.
It's worth noting that the quoted "$0.50 a month" only applies for the first year, after which it will cost $0.02 an hour or ~$15 a month.
The amortized cost of a reserved instance is only $7.47 per month.
1yr: $54 one-time fee: $0.007 * 24 * 365 = $61.32 + $54 = $115.32 / 12 = $9.61 per month.
3yr: $82 one-time fee: $0.007 * 24 * 365 = $61.32 * 3yr = $183.96 + $82 = $265.96 / 36 = $7.39 per month.
Better choice than a lot of the VPN services out there. The free services should be presumed to have some sort of ulterior motive to get a look at your traffic (including, potentially, much more nefarious ones than a firesheep user). Even premium services should be considered carefully, you have little way of knowing what amount of tracking or inspection of your packets is going on - and such concentrators make an ex…
Do you think Amazon has root access to anything you virtualize on their cloud?