[Discuss] Web Maintenance software (for Windows)

[tmetro+blu at gmail.com (Tom Metro)]

Jerry Feldman wrote:
> ...a Putty solution would work, but it would require an ftp
> server on BLU, set up for localhost only. But, I'm not sure if this will
> compromise security or not.

Of course it is better to not have an insecure service running at all,
but if you configure your ftpd to listen only on localhost and enforce
that with iptables, it will probably be stronger than other weak links
in your security setup.


> Possibly using OpenVPN. However, this would also require an ftp server.

Right, so a VPN is no better from your end. (I tend to consider VPNs to
be *less* secure than SSH tunnels, as they open a two-way street between
your LAN (or server) and your client/employee's insecure, and likely
virus infected computer.)


Rich Braun wrote:
> Barring that, the best thing I can offer is to echo the suggestion to
> kludge up a drive-mapping mount point served up through a putty ssh
> tunnel to a Samba share.

Oh, that reminds me, how about sshfs? Can DreamWeaver "publish" to a
local file path? (I'm guessing yes. Undoubtedly some DreamWeaver
customers run the tool on the web server.)

There's an implementation for Windows:
http://code.google.com/p/win-sshfs/
http://dokan-dev.net/en/


David N. Blank-Edelman wrote:
> http://www.webdrive.com/products/webdrive/index.html
> http://www.expandrive.com/

Commercial, closed-source implementations of sshfs. Worth a look, as
they might be easier/better. (First one costs $70, the other $40.)

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/