VPN in a Flash

[jehowe]

Thanks for the clarification Ward. It's a very attractive choice and looks to be a good fit for those roles.

 

[g711]

Tom, thanks for this.
The aspire is something that I will add to my offerings when this is released and am really looking forward to the mini server solution. I can either roll my own, buy from Rhino, Aastra etc. or buy from you. I would rather purchase from you as you guys are really busting your butts for little (no) exchange and it gives back to this community. Is the mini-itx project shelved?

 

[wardmundy]

Noooooo! We just wanted to get something out the door quickly, and the portable unit has been the most in demand. We're very close on the other system as well. All it takes is time.

 

[darmock]

Actually no but we are trying to make some cash to more fully develop it. I have a couple of the mini-itx form factor boxes in long term production sites now and they work very well.

The geode is the processor of choice but I am using both MSI and Jetway versions as opposed to the Alix system. All are running on hard drives at the moment but I have an ssd model in the lab undergoing long term testing. I am also using the Openvox mini pci versions of the A400 which work perfectly.

The alix boards work and I have a custom distro just for them but there are a number of challenges which I don't have time to support which is why I have not released it.

The real question is why use a mini-itx geode over the atom? The atom costs less.... and with the exception of the NIC problems it is a good and reliable system. The new dual core is even better.

The Alix type systems have their place I popped one in the car to run PIAF over vpn via my evdo router recently; works like a champ. Getting the touch screen working was interesting plus it is running X with NO DEGRADATION IN ASTERISK PERFORMANCE. What more can you say?

I am still finishing off the aspire. Have PIAF running along with wired/wireless and X WITH NO DEGRADATION in performance. Took it on the road yesterday and plugged into evdo just fine also. Can't wait for the backward thinkers to whine about running X with asterisk yet again. While I would not run X on a production class server with 100's of simultaneous calls all seems well with 3 concurrent calls on the aspire while browsing firefox in X. Processor got up to about 27%.

We opted to go for the aspire with the hard drive as opposed to SSD simply because 8gb is not a lot especially on a multifunction machine. SSD are coming down in price and getting larger. Once the cost for a 32gb SSD drops some more it will be an option on the mini server for sure.


Tom

 

[jeremywillden]

I may have neglected to include information about allowing your VPN client(s) to access other devices on your LAN. In addition to the "push route..." directive, you must create a custom route on your LAN router so your router will know to redirect traffic destined for the VPN back to the PiaF box (as a gateway for the 10.100.100.x subnet, if you use the configuration I outlined).

Thanks to discodave1977 for asking about it - he was trying to use X-Lite over the connection. If you don't have control over the LAN router, you could always use the VPN IP address of the server (in this case 10.100.100.1) in the X-Lite configuration.

If none of this works, look at the iptables (firewall) configuration on the VPN IP address and make sure it's not blocking traffic.

ngrep is a great tool for troubleshooting these kinds of configuration issues, too.

 

[wardmundy]

Coming Very, Very Soon...

For those that pronounced us crazy for the VPN in a Flash NetBook design and snickered at the Aspire One weighing in at just over 2 pounds, it's hard not to recall the old adage that "he who laughs last..."

With the latest and greatest Fedora 10, KDE GUI, Zoiper, Asterisk 1.4, FreePBX 2.5, Hamachi VPN, and the Orgasmatron II build with fax support, sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. And, by the way, there's performance to spare. Stay tuned...

 

[wjms]

Hi one and all,

I bought a Acer Aspire One for my on-the-road use a couple of weeks ago and wondered if you would be releasing an ISO or similar to allow me to try this distribution? I would expect to contribute something to the project to receive this.

Jim

 

[wardmundy]

No ISO is possible at this juncture. That was the reason we decided to custom-build these for our users. After you make a full backup of your machine, contact me and we'll work something out.

 

[krzykat]

Ward, what you think of this? Would this little puppy work?

http://www.geeks.com/pix/2009/900A.html

• Asus customized Linux operating system
• Intel Atom N270 1.60 GHz processor
• 1 GB DDR2 RAM
• 4 GB SSD (Solid-State Disk) internal storage capacity
• No optical drive
• No floppy drive
• Intel UMA integrated video
• Integrated high definition audio with built-in speakers
• Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
• 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
• Keyboard with touchpad
• Built-in memory card reader
• 8.9-inch Wide LCD display with 1024 x 600 resolution (WSVGA)
  
  
• Supported Media:
• MultiMedia Card (MMC)
• Secure Digital (SD)
  
  
• I/O Ports:
• Three (3) USB 2.0
• One (1) 15-pin VGA
• One (1) RJ-45 Ethernet jack
• One (1) Microphone jack
• One (1) Headphone jack

 

[MyKroFt]

Did we ever get to a release/selling point on these Mini Boxes?

I have some clients that this type of setup for be perfect for them.

thanks
Myk

 

[wardmundy]

With netbooks at $250, it's just not commercially feasible for us to build these. Looks like a good choice though.

 

[MyKroFt]

While I agree with that for me personally.

Tyring to sell a netbook like that to a small home/business office is very hard. They are looking for something more like a appliance box etc and the 1st thing that comes out of their mouth is that is a laptop - not what we want....

O well, back to searching...

thanks
Myk

 

[drmurdoch]

Tyring to sell a netbook like that to a small home/business office is very hard. They are looking for something more like a appliance box etc and the 1st thing that comes out of their mouth is that is a laptop - not what we want....

You are right on the money.
They want something like this :

Unless they are at a premium for space like me !

or like Ward has pictured in the first post of this thread

 

[MyKroFt]

ya and when they see the price of that green box they fall off their chair.

Ya ward's pic is like what they are looking for. If I could even find a source for a case like that, I would build it myself

 

[phinphan]

Why not use a nettop? Here is one for $110 and all you need is $20 worth of memory and a $50 hard drive. http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SkuSearch_v3.asp?SCriteria=BA25456.

Here is the deal to get it for $110 http://bensbargains.net/deal/112087/

 

[MyKroFt]

Any of these solutions would work great and most of us have not problems, but its getting past the perception the customer has about using something that looks so close to a computer vs looking like a phone appliance.

That is the hard part, here at home and the theaters that I am setting up, I am using refurb dell optiplex p4 boxes that I am getting off of ebay for $65. Most come with either 256 or 512 & and 20 or 40 gig hd, if 256 I just go to the local computer shop and get some more used ram they have sitting in their pull box.

But again, it comes down to getting past the customer perception of what a phone box should look like.

 

[MyKroFt]

I found ward's enclosures http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.87/.f

So I am going to figure out what I can build them for and go from there.... am prob gonna go with the m300 ver as it will support a riser card, so then a interface card can be added if needed.

 

[krzykat]

You gonna do it with the LCD display for stats?

 

[MyKroFt]

maybe for myself, customers - prob not - cause it will be somewhere they dont see it etc

 

[krzykat]

I was thinking more for the "wow" factor - now it looks like an appliance and not a "pc" and you can easier justify pricing with it to the customers. It's a high-end phone switch, not a PC with a card in it.