JanusPA - A hardware Privacy Adapter using Tor

Wed Dec 24 05:36:13 UTC 2008

Hi Dante,

680MHz and 128MB of RAM would work just fine for the application this was
intended for.Thanks for the feedback!

- Kyle

On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 10:46 AM, dante <dante at virtualblueness.net> wrote:

> 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 at gmail.com
> >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 at gmail.com>
> >> 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 at gumstix.com
> )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!
> >>>
> >
> >
>
>
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