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Re: JanusPA - A hardware Privacy Adapter using Tor
Hi Kyle,
What about the RB433 or RB433AH which are 300MHz / 64MB / $100 and
680MHz / 128MB / $??? boards? (See http://routerboard.com).
I know the extra ports are overkill, but they might handle a better load.
Isn't memory also an issue? My problem running a tor client on the
Linksys wrt54g was memory ( BCM4710 / 16MB ).
--Tony Basile
http://opensource.dyc.edu
Kyle Williams wrote:
> Hi John,
> Yeah, the 133MHz CPU just isn't going to be fast enough for my needs, plus
> the extra ports is a bit over kill for this specific application. I know
> the gumstix is a higher price, but it is exactly what I needed. Thanks for
> the feedback though. All this neat hardware that people are sharing is
> giving me ideas for future projects.
>
> - Kyle
>
> On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 8:18 AM, Jonathan Yu <jonathan.i.yu@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>
>> Hi:
>>
>> What about the Soekris boards?
>>
>> The lowest end board, net4501, with a case is $173 USD.
>>
>> https://www.soekris.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=75
>>
>> 133 Mhz CPU, 64 Mbyte SDRAM, 3 Ethernet, 2 Serial, CF socket, 1
>> Mini-PCI socket, 3.3V PCI connector.
>>
>> The low processor speed may hinder encryption, but other than that, it
>> looks like it would make a pretty good replacement for Gumstix.
>> Probably not as small, though.
>>
>> It might be nice to note that these boards have been in production for
>> a pretty long time and continue to be so. Also some firmwares like
>> DD-WRT support this hardware.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Jon
>>
>> On Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 8:14 AM, Kyle Williams <kyle.kwilliams@xxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello Everyone,
>>> I've been working on a project for a couple of months now that I'm sure
>>> would be of interest to some of you. The goal was to apply the same
>>> transparent model coderman and I used with JanusVM and Tor VM into
>>> hardware. I wanted something small that you could connect, power on, and
>>> use. Literally plug-n-privacy. After several weeks of searching the web
>>> looking at different hardware configuration, specs, etc, etc, I decided
>>>
>> to
>>
>>> go with Gumstix(.com).
>>> The privacy adapter is a ARM 400MHz Xscale CPU with 64MB RAM (@100MHz),
>>>
>> 16MB
>>
>>> of Flash memory for storage, and *TWO* 10/100 NICs. It uses Linux for
>>>
>> the
>>
>>> OS.
>>> The first thought that many people get, including myself, have is that it
>>>
>> is
>>
>>> not powerful enough to run Tor. Well, after 2 months of breaking this
>>>
>> in,
>>
>>> I'm very happy with the results.
>>> I ran this as a Tor server for about 4 days, and got a good baseline for
>>>
>> how
>>
>>> much data it can handle. As a Tor server, it was pushing about 250KB/sec
>>> (125KB in, 125 KB out).
>>> As a Tor client, the best speed test I got was about 1.2MB/sec. BTW,
>>>
>> that
>>
>>> was after about 45 minutes of "SIGNAL NEWNYM" and speedtest before I
>>>
>> found a
>>
>>> fast circuit.
>>> Here's the URL for what I've got so far.
>>> http://www.janusvm.com/goldy/JanusPA/index.html
>>> It is lacking all forms of documentation, and the source code needs to be
>>> cleaned up some.
>>> It does have a general description, the index of the soon to come
>>> documentation, openssl speed test benchmarks, pictures, and stats of when
>>>
>> I
>>
>>> tested it as a Tor server.
>>> After about two months of using it, I've never felt more secure and
>>> satisfied when using Tor. This is a hardware router that routes your
>>> traffic through the Tor network, it's small, and is easy to use. As for
>>> security, all TCP and DNS are routed through Tor, and everything else is
>>> dropped. So all the nasty side-channel attacks that us hackers have been
>>> working on to leak your real IP address are rendered useless.
>>> But there is good news and bad news.
>>> The bad news:
>>> The manufacture (Gumstix.com) is "Phasing Out" this particular setup at
>>>
>> the
>>
>>> end of DECEMBER 2008!! That's in 10 days! Any orders after Dec. 31,
>>>
>> 2008
>>
>>> will have to be in bulk orders, which is 120 or more units. Shitty.
>>> Because of the short amount of time left to get this hardware, I've
>>>
>> jumped
>>
>>> the gun and chosen to notify the Tor community about this hardware before
>>>
>> it
>>
>>> is gone or out of a practical price range for most of us.
>>> The good news:
>>> I've been in communication with a very nice gentleman at gumstix who said
>>> "Gumstix is also working on a netDUO expansion board for Overo, although
>>>
>> a
>>
>>> release date has not been announced." There is reasonable hope that
>>>
>> there
>>
>>> new motherboad product line (the Overo) will at some point have a dual
>>>
>> NIC
>>
>>> expansion board.
>>> So this is somewhat a conflicting situation. I've spent months working
>>>
>> on
>>
>>> this awesome anonymity adpater, and it's about to be discontinued without
>>> knowing an exact date as to when the new line with have the capabilities
>>>
>> to
>>
>>> do what needs to be done. ugh. I'm very much looking forward to their
>>>
>> new
>>
>>> product line when a dual NIC expansion board is available, but I don't
>>>
>> know
>>
>>> when that'll be. If anyone is interested in this, but cannot afford to
>>>
>> buy
>>
>>> hardware at the moment, please contact Don Anderson (don@xxxxxxxxxxx)and
>>> encourage the idea of extending their phase out date or express and
>>>
>> interest
>>
>>> in a dual NIC expansion board for their new Overo product line.
>>> If anyone is interested in getting a hardware based Tor solution, you
>>>
>> might
>>
>>> want to consider buying a gumstix soon.
>>> You'll need the following.
>>> Connex 400mx Motherboard:
>>>
>>>
>> http://www.gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=136
>>
>>> netDUO-mmc/SD expansion board:
>>>
>>>
>> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=156
>>
>>> 4.0v Power Adapter:
>>>
>>>
>> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=148
>>
>>> Screws and spacer kit:
>>>
>>>
>> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=161
>>
>>> This will run you $237.00 USD + shipping and handling.
>>> I would also *HIGHLY* recommend the following because flashing the device
>>> over the network is very, very risky and has resulted in me having to
>>> re-flash it through the serial port many, many times.
>>> Serial null-modem cable:
>>>
>>>
>> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=85
>>
>>> Serial port connector:
>>>
>>>
>> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=106
>>
>>> This will run you $32.00 USD.
>>> If anyone is seriously thinking about a good hardware based solution for
>>> Tor, I'd buy the gumstix now. In fact, I just bought a couple more just
>>>
>> in
>>
>>> case mine breaks. I'll have the source code up withing a week, two tops
>>>
>> The
>>
>>> FULL documentation will take about a bit longer to get done.
>>> Well, that's about it. Feedback is welcome.
>>>
>>> Best Regards,
>>> Kyle
>>> PS. Happy Holidays!
>>>
>
>