Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Linux

Best uses of a VPS for charitable computing/networking?

khedron — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:20:28 -0800

In the spirit of the season: Mefites, what are your favorite charitable computing / charitable networking projects? I have a Linode 360 (running Debian stable) that I barely use but can't let go of. I've been crunching work for the World Community Grid and am currently running a Freenet node, though I wish the latter was more polished. I've run a Tor node in the past, but the bandwidth controls never worked for me and I ran over quota.

I have about 200 GB of network transfer and my host appears to be pretty quiet except for my processes, so lets pretend that I have the whole 4 proc Xeon to myself.

Or should I finish migrating off of it and donate the 239.40 USD/yr to a good cause?

I'm looking to maximise "good" with an eye to under-resourced needs.

Help me make the most out of my netbook!

modernnomad — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:02:28 -0800

Is there some software out there that can turn my netbook into relatively passive display device for news, weather, email alerts, etc? And look good doing it? So, I got this free netbook (an HP/Compaq Mini 110c I believe) with a year long subscription to cable tv and internet service. Now, I've already got a Macbook, so I wasn't really in the market for another laptop, and I may end up giving it away.

But I thought, this little thing could be useful to me if I could do something like just leave it on a table, and as I walked by it it might have the latest headlines or weather flash up on it. I remember a very old piece of windows software called Pointcast, but that seems to be long dead.

It came with Windows XP installed, and I've since installed Ubuntu NBR and am in the process of downloading Jolicloud as I write this... I am however a Mac user and so Linux is a whole new ball game for me.

Anyone know of any software, on any of the platforms above, that might get this thing to be a useful tool for me? I guess the key is that I'm looking for a "lean back" experience -- something I can notice as I walk by the machine, rather than something that requires me to engage with it as I already engage with my Macbook.

Need help creating a custom Linux LiveCD

jluce50 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:22:02 -0800

Like a dumbass I took my work laptop off the corporate domain and now I can't log in. Helpdesk can't find the admin password for the machine so it's stuck until I travel to the office and they can re-image it (I'm remote). Until then I'd like to be able to at least boot into Ubuntu (or some such) and browse the web. Okay, so obviously a Linux LiveCD will give me what I want. Here's the rub; I'd like to be able to do this without having to reinstall my Firefox extensions every time I boot up. Being a complete Linux noob isn't helping me here. So here are my questions:

- Can I boot into Ubuntu via a LiveCD, set things up the way I like, and then burn another LiveCD (from within that instance of Ubuntu) that keeps that configuration? Possibly following something like this guide?

- Is there some other method to create a LiveCD that meets my requirements without having to install a Linux distro on my harddrive? I'm all Windows, Both at work and at home.

Dumbed-down instructions are a plus. Thanks!

P.S. Infinite bonus points if you can tell me how to recover the admin password on an encrypted HDD... ;-)

Recommend a USB scanner for Linux

phliar — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:56:10 -0800

Which current USB flatbed scanner works under Linux? My trusty old SCSI Umax scanner is on its deathbed, and I'd like to also retire its SCSI PC (I only use it for the scanner), and get a USB scanner.

Alas! it seems like none of the USB scanners currently available on Amazon and NewEgg are on the SANE supported list. I've started looking for used scanners but I'd rather buy a new one if possible. Anyone here have any experience getting any currently available USB flatbed scanners to work under Linux?

(I don't need to scan photos, just documents. Scan quality is not that important, but reliability is.)

Kubuntu Help Needed - Update from 9.04 to 9.1 -> display FUBARed, touchpad borked

minimii — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:57:46 -0800

This post relates to a Toshiba Satellite Laptop, dual booting WinXP and Kubuntu, where a full package update to Kubuntu ver. 9 has caused some display problems rendering the linux desktop essentially unusable. I recently updated from a fully operational Kubuntu 9.04 desktop environment to 9.10 via a complete package update. Here are my current boot options.

Kubuntu is now is a mess. If I boot the 2.6.31-15 partition, the active window display has been resized to enormous proportions; for example, here is the KDE wallet login; this is what mouseover text looks like; and this is the right click dialog.

If I click on an active window, I get this, so I'm really at a loss to figure out how to even begin approaching a fix.

If I boot the 2.6.28-11 partition, in addition to the other problems, the touchpad no longer responds, so any proposed fix there must be keyboard based.

Windows still boots up fine and works as good as it ever does.

Can I roll back to 9.04?
If not, I'm looking to fix the display and revitalize the touchpad.
I know I can nuke the HD and start over, but that is not an optimal resolution.
Any help solving these problems is greatly appreciated.

What lightweight but powerful laptop should I buy?

bkudria — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:36:10 -0800

Which light-weight yet powerful laptop should I buy? I like the Sony Vaio Z, followed by the MB Air and the Thinkpad X200. Am I missing any models? I'm looking to replace my current work laptop - I use it for web development, so I need to be able to run Apache, MySQL, PHP, and some other stuff. I also use Chrome pretty heavily, and of course I watch a DVD every now and then, play music, etc. I don't run an office suite or play any games.

I carry my laptop to and from work every day, and my current HP is pretty heavy, so I am looking to buy the lightest laptop possible that still has a real CPU (e.g. no Atom, ULV, etc). I don't want anything at all resembling a "netbook". What I'm not considering at the moment is price - I'm happy to pay extra for a nicer, lighter, laptop.

At the moment, the best option I could find is the Sony VAIO Z-series. It weighs 3.3 pounds, not the lightest on my list, but it has a nice CPU (a T9900 @ 3.06 GHz). The MB Air is 0.3lbs lighter, but the CPU clocks in at 2.13 GHz and as expected does slightly worse in benchmarks. The Z also has a higher-res screen. I use an additional external monitor, but it is a nice extra. The Lenovo Thinkpad X200 and X200s are lighter even than the MB Air, but have even smaller screens and slower CPUs.

(Note: I am aware of the Z's in-BIOS VT block. I have no problems with patching the BIOS to work around this. I don't consider it a downside.)

Additional details: I plan on running Linux, so gross Linux incompatibilities are a no-go, but I think I can handle anything merely pedestrian. Also, I plan on swapping out the HDD with an SSD some point in the future, so if that has any bearing on anything, I'd love to know. I'm still in the research phase for that.

In short: I want a light yet powerful high-quality workhorse laptop. The VAIO Z looks to be a good balance.

My question: Am I missing anything in my analysis? Do any of these laptops have any glaring flaws? Are there any other models that have solid build quality and similar or better specs?

Thanks!

Dual Booting For Dummies

mannequito — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:14:17 -0800

Two-part question regarding a potential XP/Ubuntu dual-boot setup: a)Do I still worry about viruses if I'm not accessing the internet from the XP half? b) From reading online it seems that I'll be able to access files from the XP half while in Ubuntu, but will the opposite be true? I've actually never owned a Windows machine so apologies if I seem over paranoid about viruses. I'm just finally considering this in order to be able to record music and use my computer for djing.

And, in case the second question is confusing, what I mean is that as I understand it, anything I put on the computer in Windows will be accessible on the other operating system. But since I would be using Ubuntu for any downloading I'd like to know if that will be readily accessible in XP or if it would require copying it to an external harddrive, booting into Windows, and recopying it?

thanks everyone.

My Dream Dual Boot Netbook

lemonfridge — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:39:01 -0800

Help me build my perfect netbook! I've had my iBook G4 since I started Uni over 6 years ago, but it's starting to show it's age and things are starting to play up (apart from the battery!)

So I've ordered myself a Samsung NC20 with a 2Gb of RAM upgrade. I'd really like to dual or triple boot between Windows, OSX, and....something.

1. It comes with XP, but I'm tempted to go for a Windows 7 upgrade. Thoughts?

I like OSX and wouldn't mind keeping it an option.

2. I'd like a flavour of Linux or possible the new Google OS. Thoughts?

3. I really like how quickly my current iBook waked up when I open the lid. Can I expect the same thing from my new NC20?

4. Where is the best guide to acheive what I want? I've never dual booted anything before.

3d CAD drafting on Ubuntu?

Goofyy — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:00:33 -0800

Looking for a 3d CAD drafting program that will run with Ubuntu. A feature I need that is missing on the one 3D drafting program I found (CollabCAD) was the ability to use scripts that are something I can generate with my own software (parsing it out as needed). Other programs lack the third dimension. FreeCAD is very promising, but still lacks 3d drafting ability (which I discovered after laboriously compiling the lastest version). I suppose that something running under Wine is acceptable. Ultimately, I need to get output from the CAD program that will import into POVray or something similar.

I say "drafting", because so many programs seem to work by manipulating solid geometry. I prefer plotting my own lines etc. based on computation. I used to do this in Windows, and had a lovely CAD program I found on a magazine disk. That computer is dead, the disc apparently lost, and I don't do windows anymore.

Where to get started with Python GUI programming?

cowbellemoo — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:46:59 -0800

Which Python GUI framework is right for someone new to GUI programming? But who may also aspire to open source community (linux) development/involvement? Cross platform, wonderful documentation/tutorials, and cruft-free new technology are also welcome. My current need is just for a simple GUI front end for scripts I write in work for Windows, but one day I'd like to have GUI skills robust enough to help out with open source development. I've given this list a look, but I really don't know where to start. I know GTK/Qt are the most commonly utilized, but are there any exciting new next-generation graphical toolkits? What's fun to learn? What are your favorite tutorials, books, or resources for it?

Any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks!

External USB drive, Linux machine, POST/mount woes!

xmutex — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:11:39 -0800

Please hope me: my Linux machine cannot boot when my external drive is connected: it can't get past POST tests when USB legacy is enabled, but it also can't mount the drive when USB legacy is _not_ enabled. :( So if USB legacy is enabled and external drive is connected, the machine sits at pre-POST testing forever. It won't get past it. If USB legacy is turned off, it boots, but Linux (ubuntu 9) cannot mount the drive. So what I have to do is keep USB legacy off, and when the machine boots, unplug/replug the drive- then run mount manually.

This situation sucks cos the external drive is my backup. I don't want the machine to boot w/o it connected, and don't want to have to manually intervene.

Is this more an issue w/ the machine, or the drive? It's a Buffalo 1TB external USB drive - this dude.

Any tips? Thanks!

Known-good Linux PCI-e SAS HBAs?

krilli — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:50:16 -0800

Can you recommend a known-good 4-port PCI-Express SAS adapter for Linux? I need out-of-the-box in-kernel driver support. I'm using mdadm software RAID-5 and 6 on Linux. I need to find a reasonably fast and solid PCI-Express 4-8 port SAS adapter, to which I will connect several standard SATA drives. I would prefer to pay $100-$200, but can go higher if needed.

I've got a Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 card - which is almost the perfect card, except that when I start the mdadm array over it the mvsas driver barfs and drops the drives right off the controller. Dev entries gone and everything.

I've seen recommendations for LSI controllers, but linux-raid mailing list reports say that these similarly freak out and drop drives when you send SMART over it.

I'm kind of surprised by this seeming SAS-in-Linux driver immaturity, and am quite certain that I just haven't yet found some excellent card, already out there with driver support for ages. Can you help? Any hints most welcome.

Embedded x86 Linux

thewalrus — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:27:04 -0800

x86 embedded Linux filter: Please recommend a not-too-costly embedded x86 system that is fanless, has a full set of the usual external I/O ports and doesn't use a lot of power. Should be the size of a VHS tape or smaller. Probably Mini-ITX form factor or nano-ITX. Relatively low cost would be good. I'm looking for suggestions for a embedded x86 system to integrate into a product that will be produced in relatively low volumes, for a niche market. It should be relatively easy to make changes to and diagnose in the field so it needs to have a full set of ports, at least two USB (preferably four USB), VGA, one RS232, RJ45 ethernet. Having a minipci slot for a 802.11g card would be good too.

CPU power is not a factor so it can be the lowest power VIA or Intel Atom processor, but it needs to be fanless.

It may need to store a bit of data so it should have a mounting point for one 2.5" SATA SSD.

This will probably be in the mini-ITX form factor or one of VIA's nano-ITX type boards. I'm looking to buy the motherboard, case and power supply together as a package, and the power supply needs to accept 12V DC input. Any suggestions on vendors or sources?

Network monitor linux

Petrot — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:41:01 -0800

I would like to be able to monitor my own bandwidth usage/data transfer rates on my laptop, whilst using an o2 mobile broadband dongle. Difficulty: Linux. I'm using O2 USB Modem E160 to get online, but it gives a limit of 3GB a month. Usually, with Windows or a Mac the modem comes with a connection manager to show what usage you're at. I got this modem to just about work with Ubuntu 9.04, but without the connection manager. So it just comes down to educated guesswork on my part to see if I'm coming close to this quota limit.

I read this previous AskMe, which suggested using BitMeter II. This looks precisely what I want:
"Using the Alerts feature, BitMeter can notify you when you have uploaded/downloaded a certain amount, or if your speed goes above or below any limit that you specify.

Does your ISP restrict how much you can download each month? Maybe the ISP Restrictions screen would be useful, just enter details of your monthly quota, and BitMeter will warn you when you approach your limit"

This would be really, really useful. But it's only for Windows. There is an open source version in the works, but it doesn't seem to have the above.

So, is there an open source network monitor that will allow me to see if I'm hitting a quota or not. Or, would it be possible to run BitMeter under WINE?

Linux fun composer for 8 year old?

Sch01ar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:14:35 -0800

Does anyone know any simple Ubuntu music software for me to have fun composing with my eight year old son? A few years ago there seemed to be lots of simple generative and quasi random music sequencer programmes around (admittedly I'm thinking mac and PC and I've since switched to linux) But now my son is old enough to play and create I can't find anything :(

Browser based ones would be fine, but what I've found seems a bit buggy.

Thanks in advance!

S

Amazon S3 for log backups?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:04:16 -0800

I'm looking for a step by step recipe for log rotation from a web server to Amazon S3. Caveat: I am an utter newbie to Amazon S3 and EC2.

I currently have a backup process that works well. It's a cronjob that copies server logs on a nightly basis from an external machine that I do not control to a linux VPS I do control via scp.

The cost of storage is killing me (I keep > 1 years worth of logs) so I'd like to use Amazon S3 as the destination for the logs, while keeping this as unixy as possible.

What are the steps I need to take to do this? Baby steps, please. I'm new to Amazon's S3 and EC2.

I would prefer something like a nightly job where I run:

scp user@example.com:logfile user2@amazons3domain.com:destination

or the rsync equivalent.

I do not need more than 99% reliability. Simple is best. Installing new software on the outside machine is difficult, so a standard scp or rsync method preferred.

I can install software on one of my servers, but I presume it would not be involved in the transfer as I'd take a 3x bandwidth hit (outside machine to mine, mine to s3 x 2: upload from my side, download from theirs)

Over time, I will have more than one outside machine to back up. For now, it's just one.

installing older firefoxes

mannequito — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:54:18 -0800

I need to put an older version (2.x) of Firefox onto my computer. I am using the latest Kubuntu version (Karmic, still in beta for a few more days). How do I do this? I was able to download a tar.gz file of Firefox 2.0.0.20 but, beyond extracting, I can't get anywhere with it.

Is there a repository I can add that still supplies older versions? Or is there a way to get the one I already downloaded installed?

btw, this isn't for preference or anything, just the fact that the Canadian government is outdated and require an older version in order to access a secure site.

How do I make a map from GPS data?

Kadin2048 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:38:05 -0800

How do I turn my GPS track logs into a nice-looking trail map? Do I need a GIS package? I'd like to make some high-quality maps of the hiking trails near my house. I have a handheld GPS, and I already have the downloading and conversion to GPX of the track logs worked out. However, that's as far as I've gotten. Starting from this big pile of data, which needs to be cleaned up substantially, how do I get a nice vector map?

I can load the track files into Google Earth right now, but that's not really what I'm looking for. I need some way to edit the tracks, choose how they're represented (some are the actual trails, some represent the boundaries of the park, some are surface roads, etc.), add labels, and generally turn it into something that people can use.

It seems like this is getting into GIS territory, but I admit to knowing next to nothing about GIS packages or really what they do, beyond a vague idea that it has something to do with maps. Do I need a GIS package? If so, which one? I'm willing to spend some money on this (although not the $2500 that ArcGIS apparently costs). Windows, Mac and Linux are all options, although Linux/Mac are preferred.

Some things I've looked at include GRASS, which seems to be raster-based; GeoServer, which seems intriguing but seems like more of a middleware/server component than a desktop editing application; Mapyrus, which seems something like what I'm looking for; and QCAD, which isn't a GIS at all but a CAD program, but maybe that's more what I need?

I've seen surveyors working with GPS units, so I know there must be some way of transforming that data into useful maps — how do I bridge the gap?

VST for Linux?

Squid Voltaire — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:26:55 -0800

What do Linux people do for realtime music effects? I used to play around with AudioMulch and a whole bunch of sweet VST effects on my Windows machine, and it was great. You know, stuff like Transverb and the like.

Now I use Linux, and while there are a host of advantages, there is no VST (something about the license from Steinberg, I think?). In fact, the DAWs I've used (Audacity and Ardour) don't seem to be set up for effects processing at all.

I'm assuming that you are meant to do you effects processing upstream, and chain it into the DAW at the last step (I use JACK, so this wouldn't be a problem) but that's just a guess. So...

A) What do Linux people do for digital audio effects? Is there maybe a nice converter or emulator or something I could run that will let me use my old windows stuff?

and B) I presume that there's some sort of program that takes in audio, runs it through an effect, and spits it out again, right? What is it? I use Rarkarrack, but that's only good for a certain number of effects (and is also impossible to spell).

Any advice?

Test creation software?

fogovonslack — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:25:36 -0800

Please help me find software for creating tests from a bank of questions, ideally open-source and even more ideally Linux. I teach at a community college, and (most of) the texts I use come with proprietary test creation software and prefab testbanks. The test questions range from mediocre to bloody awful, so I generally delete some questions and rewrite some proportion of the remaining.

I've recently bought a new laptop and think it's about time to get around to developing my own bank of test questions (as I've meant to for years), and I don't want to be yoked to a proprietary software format and at the mercy of book publisher whims.

Is there an independent test creation software package that's any good? Better yet, as I'm running Ubuntu on my new machine, is there a Linux package? When I search for linux/ubuntu test software, all that seems to come up is software to test code, not software to write tests.

Seeking the ultimate media center PC.

reductiondesign — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:27:07 -0800

Looking to build/buy a (maybe) Linux-based media center. Requirements: HDMI, YPbPr, and (bonus) standard RCA output (not all at once), region-free DVD/Blu-ray playing (physical drive[s?]), some sort of remote control, automatic boot into media center interface, small size (not a tower), and (of course) lots and lots of codecs: Blu-ray rips, H.264 .avi, VIDEO_TS folders, the works. Need to know: cost, upkeep, storage options. Short version: What's my best standalone media center PC option?

---

Long version: I'm thinking I'd run XBMC on this beauty, but I'm open to other suggestions. A main selling point for me would be how nice the UI looks (MediaStream looks gorgeous, but can I choose the posters/fan art that it displays?), but I'd also like minimal lag when going in and out of menus. Not sure if XBMC runs best on Windows or Linux, but I'm more keen on Linux since it's, well, free.

The computer I use for this should ideally be small—I have very little knowledge of the current desktop PC scene since I've only owned a laptop for years and years. What's out there, case/size-wise, nowadays? What sort of processing power would I need to play HD video? Blu-ray?

Storage is also a concern of mine. I currently have a little under 1 TB of TV shows and movies in .avi and .mp4 format, along with ~500 DVDs that I'd like to get copied onto a HDD of some sort. Should I go for internal drives or external drives? How often should I replace the drives in order to avoid failure?

If I could have this on my wireless network, that would be nice as well. Live TV would be nice, of course, but I'd be using it with rabbit ears of some sort if this were the case. Could I record live TV with this? Bonus: Could I integrate the rabbit ears into the case itself, or is this impractical?

This would need to have a remote control; what are my options there?

Thanks so much, and sorry for the length.

Quality Command Line Graphing?

DU — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:41:19 -0800

Open source, command line, low "impact", png-producing, full-featured, good-looking graphing on Linux and other Unices? We are using a script (Tcl, if it matters) to generate a script that will be sent in an email. Right now, we are using gnuplot. It's been a source of problems. No one particular thing, we just often have "issues" generating our graphs, many of them attributable to gnuplot weirdness. I'd like to rewrite it more robustly and eliminate gnuplot (on a three-strikes basis).

The "open source" and "command line" are pretty self explanatory. BTW, I don't really consider gnuplot to be command line, because it has its own shell. Yes, you can script it, but I'm looking for something that will take everything (except the actual data) as command line options.

"Low impact" means "not a lot of extra libs required" and is on the list because we have to manage, build and ship this stuff.

"full-featured" means that something that just draws a squiggle isn't enough. The particular graph we are sending out is actually a multiplot, i.e. two graphs in the same image file. We need to be able to label axes, change colors, set ranges, etc.

"png-producing" I think is non-negotiable. Personally, I would be happy to switch image formats (or better yet, go with SVG), but this email has to meet certain other requirements and I dasn't mess with the format.

"Other Unices" include Solaris and Irix. It doesn't have to ship with those OSes, though, as long as it will compile there painlessly.

As for "good-looking": Plotutils is actually perfect, except for one problem: The font rendering (actually, rasterizing) is complete ass. As in nearly unreadable even at reasonable sizes. I actually confirmed this with the maintainer that there is no way to make them look better at the present time.

How can I move my google docs storage?

Sch01ar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:38:19 -0800

Is there a way to move Google Docs' offline cache storage to an external card? I'm using Linux (ubuntu) on a netbook, and I'm conscious that I only have so much space. Thanks!

Why did tar and nc not play nice?

flabdablet — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:54:13 -0800

Can anybody immediately see why nc and tar didn't work together the way I expected they would? I wanted to copy an Ubuntu installation from a laptop with one filesystem to a desktop box with two. So I booted an Ubuntu live CD on each and opened terminals; then on the laptop did



sudo su -

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt

cd /mnt

tar c . | nc -l -p 10000

and on the desktop box did



sudo su -

mkfs -t ext3 -L root /dev/sda3

mkfs -t ext3 -L home /dev/sda4

mount /dev/sda3 /mnt

mkdir /mnt/home

mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/home

cd /mnt

nc 192.168.1.3 10000 -q5 | tar xv --numeric-owner

As expected, a huge list of filenames scrolled by on the desktop box as tar extracted the files. When that all stopped, I hit ctrl-D on the desktop end to close nc's standard input; five seconds later the shell prompt returned on the laptop as well. So everything seemed to be working as expected.

After making the necessary corrections to /mnt/boot/grub/menu.lst, /mnt/etc/fstab, /mnt/etc/hosts and /mnt/etc/hostname on the desktop box, I umounted everything and rebooted it, but assorted things were badly amiss. Turns out that a random assortment of vital files had been created with zero length and zero permissions instead of being properly copied.

I have since got the machine-to-machine copy done by mounting the laptop's hard drive in a USB enclosure, plugging it into the desktop box and using cp -av so I'm not looking for ways to get the primary job done any more.

What I would like to know: before I spend more time trying to work out why the tar | nc <--> nc | tar method failed, can anybody see some documented reason why it was doomed to do so?

Where do you put your VPN?

plaidrabbit — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:16:58 -0800

Where exactly should I place my VPN server in my network? I have a working home network, with a Debian box running as a DNS server and firewall. I'm using it for business purposes, and will more than likely either need to access the network on the road or allow my business partner to work from home on a regular basis.

While I'm not so much concerned about how to configure the VPN server right now, what I am concerned about is where I should place the VPN server to keep everything secure. As it stands, I'm also planning on using a proxy server (legal requirement to keep browser logs, FTL), so I'll more than likely be using a DMZ in my network architecture. Should the VPN be placed in the DMZ, or does that seem overkill? If not, why? If so, what does this gain me? (I can think of a few things, but I'm not 100% sure if I'm right.)

If it helps, security is of the utmost concern - I will be doing legal work for clients involving electronically stored information, and most of my forensic boxes and analyzation tools will be on a closed internal network without access to the internet. However, I'm looking for the best way to secure things so medium-security information can still be accessed via the VPN, without having to worry.