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The Internet

X-Bone - IP Overlay for Automated VPN Deployment 33

Posted by Hemos from the make-it-for-all dept.
DarkSword writes "The X-Bone system for automated deployment of VPN / overlay networks is now publicly available. This is the first major public release, v1.2. X-Bone dynamically deploys and manages Internet overlays to reduce configuration effort and increase network component sharing. X-Bone discovers, configures, and monitors network resources to create overlays over existing IP networks. It's available for both Linux and BSD."
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X-Bone - IP Overlay for Automated VPN Deployment More

X-Bone - IP Overlay for Automated VPN Deployment

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  • You're right.

    It would be nice to assume everyone will behave like adults and I see nothing wrong with surfing on over to interplay.com for a work break if your company allows it.

    Installing a filter, however poorly it works, is less work than actively monitoring what people are actually doing, so they're going to be used.

    It's generally easier to treat people like children and prevent them from having to be repsonsible than to treat them like adults and require them to be responsible. Welcome to modern corporate life.

  • I think it helps to delegitimize censorware.

    Hypothetical argument to PHB:

    "Ever since you installed that NetNuisance(tm) censorware package, I can no longer download the latest x-bone updates. Our VPN just went down and we've lost 3 million dollars."

    I worked at a place that had one of these packages installed, which also filtered timesuck places like interplay.com, etc. The problem is it would also regularly slam me when trying to read things like hardware or software reviews that could in no way be construed as "harmful".

  • Simple question: does this project here have anything in common with <A HREF="http://www-classic.be.com/aboutbe/benewslett er/volume_IV/Issue05.html#Insight">BONE< /A> for BeOS, or are am I simply caught in a hell of Acronym Overlap Confusion?

  • ISI is a research institution, so it's not going to be a truly commercial endeavour. It's not vaporware or vacuumware, it's a research product.

    In fact, it's pretty useful.

    And while Joe Touch has a pretty thick hide, I feel compelled to point out that your comments are completely uncalled for. I've known Joe for about 6 years now and I wish I were as capable and as knowledgeable as he is. You should be so lucky as to be an undergrad USC serf working for him, you might actually learn something.

    -scooter
  • MY company is running this for several remote sites and it works well. Basically you need a linux box at each location to act as a firewall/router/vpn connection. You then set up an ssh user who can get in to the main site using rsa public/private keys.

    vpnstarter [detached.net] can be used to initiate the tunnel over ssh and monitor the link. Works well, although vpnstarter cna be a pain to set up properly.

    So, open source vpn solutions do exist now, and they do work.

  • simply pronounce it as "cross"bone rather than "ex-bone."

    Oh, sure, then we'll just evoke images of a "skull and cross-bones" pirate flag. Gee, thanks.

    X-bone, X Window system, MacOS X, X-box. This has got to be some kind of Xist plot!

  • Hey! These guys stole my name!
  • test, test, 123

  • Since I named it, maybe I should clear this up: Bone = Backbone, as in M-Bone (multicast backbone) X = whatever kind of backbone you want to deploy, as in M-Bone, 6-Bone, etc. No - it has nothing to do with railroads, and it IS pronounced "ehks". FWIW - this was all on our website. :-)
  • (as the leader of the X-Bone project...) No. It is related to the M-Bone, indirectly. As is indicated on our website.
  • At present, we have LOTS of protocols for doing LOTS of different types of tunneling. Sometimes, we've lots of protocols for doing the =SAME= kinds of tunneling.

    HOW many VPN packages are there on Freshmeat? More than any person could imagine using. That they are 100% incompatiable, because they're all implementing VPN in a different way, merely makes it all the more annoying.

    Then, there's the assorted approaches to IPSec, IP6-in-IP4 (note that IP4-in-IP6, an essential format for a half-migrated network, does not exist), multicasting (plenty of choice, there!), routing (eeep!), etc.

    Yes, I can see the case that it's better to have lots of packages that do one thing each, really well, than one package that does lots of things very badly. However, when it comes to a protocol, that argument doesn't fly. The object is to get the payload from A to B, with minimum fuss. The information required to carry out that process is not overly well-defined, and each method requires different information, but there's a lot that IS the same and anything else can be bundled up in it's own packet.

    I don't know how X-Bone works, but the idea of an IP(any)-over-IP(any) VPN system with automatic detection andsemi-automatic configuration sounds a very attractive deal to me.

    Personally, I think it would be much nicer to have an (any-protocol)-over-(any-protocol) VPN system, with multi-ended tunnels. To me, THAT would be the ideal. Then, you could layer over any network, regardless of underlying architecture.

    As for those complaining about the name, the other two semi-mainstream backbones are named the Multi-Bone and the 6-Bone. If you want to complain about the X-Bone, why not poke fun at those, too, whilst you're at it? Or do you just enjoy messing with groups smaller than your IQ?

  • couldn't they have come up with something different? How do I recommend something called X-bone to a PHB?

    I rather like the name. It stands a very good chance of further emberasing the censorware crowd. As for recommending it to a PHB, simply pronounce it as "cross"bone rather than "ex-bone." After all, that is clearly what the X is refering to (as in "Railroad X-ing", etc.
  • Am I the only one who thinks that you should call a internet-related product "x-bone"? That has censorware-bait written ALL over it.
    --
  • VPNs are going to be incredibly important. The flexibility it gives is astonishing. Unfortunately, they haven't been very well implemented yet. Even Cisco have had 'issues' with them. One of the major complexities is designing and implementing good overlays

    I don't know how good X-bone is, but if it helps with overlay management it deserves to be successful.

    I'm off to check it out now.

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