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SSH/FTP/Telnet/ANYserver Whats the Deal

Is there something off about These servers?  Maybe im missing something doing everything for free, or im missing something in general about these servers, but

 

Why is there so much documentation about these servers and

why are there so many different ones for either server type(Not talking about telnet)

Is there something major bad about running one of these servers on your machine

 

I'm a huge computer guy who loves his media entertainment. Just wondering like whats up with using these servers.  All i can do is research about these servers.  I want

to know all i can about computers and any help is awesome.  Truly looking for some personal thoughts do normal people like using them are they even useful. Is there

alot to worry about when using them.  Are they simple to setup?  I've been able to set a server up before(Meaning any server whatever you wanna think), however ive had the hardest time setting ssh/sftp server on my brothers computer so i could have access to files on his Windows 7 Computer from my Linux Laptop.

 

Anybody know some answers that could help me out/make me learn something? Any intelligent Input/conversation would be very welcome and Appreciated

 

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SSH is just terminal commands

FTP is just file transfers

 

both are the backbone basic of most things, and so there is documentation on everything, and the only thing bad is if you don't secure it properly then some rogue can access your PC via SSH and execute commands, or do file transfers (uploads and downloads from your pc) through FT

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138 is a good number.

 

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Telnet and FTP are about 40 years old. They have been re-implemented by dozens of companies and individuals over the years. They are obsolete and dangerous to use avoid them. SSH is an encrypted replacement for both of them (actually it replaced rsh that was even worse) and is about 20 years old. It has several implementation out there but generally OpenSSH from the OpenBSD project is the most widely used and trusted. https://www.openssh.com/

 

There are MAJOR security concerns running any of these as they provide shell and file access. SSH is secure by design, but that does not mean it can't be improperly implemented, they can NOT be left wide open. Bad guys scan for these services day and night on the internet and leaving something like this wide open will result in all manner of hell being dumped upon you. (do you really want your server hosting child porn?) SSH is also a critical component of every day IT administration so it's necessary in a lot of cases.

 

There are two main components to SSH:

The client ssh

and the daemon (server) sshd

 

I'm unsure if Microsoft has a native sshd now or not (I *think* they do) there are clients for it though like putty.

 

Read the documentation about this before you install them. Usually that documentation is provided in man page format, if you can't find the man page for what version your using you can use OpenBSD's or FreeBSD's or maybe Arch Linux has a page on it. If that involves learning how to read a man page do so because that is the standard for documentation in IT administration.

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13 hours ago, buggzboy said:

Is there something off about These servers?  Maybe im missing something doing everything for free, or im missing something in general about these servers, but

 

Why is there so much documentation about these servers and

why are there so many different ones for either server type(Not talking about telnet)

Is there something major bad about running one of these servers on your machine

 

I'm a huge computer guy who loves his media entertainment. Just wondering like whats up with using these servers.  All i can do is research about these servers.  I want

to know all i can about computers and any help is awesome.  Truly looking for some personal thoughts do normal people like using them are they even useful. Is there

alot to worry about when using them.  Are they simple to setup?  I've been able to set a server up before(Meaning any server whatever you wanna think), however ive had the hardest time setting ssh/sftp server on my brothers computer so i could have access to files on his Windows 7 Computer from my Linux Laptop.

 

Anybody know some answers that could help me out/make me learn something? Any intelligent Input/conversation would be very welcome and Appreciated

 

This is overall a little confusing to be honest. If you're only talking about what is in the subject line, most would refer to them as services. I keep thinking I'm missing a link to a server you're interested in or using as an example.

 

Why is there so much documentation about these servers and why are there so many different ones for either server type

As @jde3 mentions they're all old, hence the immense amount of documentation.

 

Is there something major bad about running one of these servers on your machine

Turning your computer on is "bad" if not secured. Just depends on how you plan to secure them and how you plan to use them.

 

I'm a huge computer guy who loves his media entertainment.

Media Entertainment shouldn't need any of these protocols. Something as simple as Plex could give you what you want.

 

Truly looking for some personal thoughts do normal people like using them are they even useful.

All the protocols are very simple to use and well documentation, so no real personal opinion. They're just tools, gotta use the right ones for the right jobs. Although I do try to avoid FTP whenever possible, but some appliances want you to push/pull files via FTP and you have no choice. In those scenarios I turn the service off when I'm done using it.

 

Is there alot to worry about when using them. 

Any and every service has vulnerabilities. As long as you isolate and secure them should be fine. Ideally none of what you mentioned should be purely exposed to the internet. SSH can be hardened/secured with certificates and encryption - but since it's typically a direct path to the server, you want to avoid this scenario. Security works best in layers.

 

Are they simple to setup? 

SSH properly secured can be a little confusing for a first-timer due to certificates. There are plenty of guides that are written for first timers and if you just follow them you'll be fine. However for internal use you can keep it simple.

FTP is a pain in the ass because you end up opening a bunch of pasv(passive) ports. If you're hell bent on using ftp, I'd suggest FileZilla - simple GUI both server and client. FTP or SFTP should be avoided over the internet imo.

Telnet is dead simple to setup and use. Should also avoid over the internet. It's not encrypted and typically has no protection against brute force.

 

You may have a different need to be met by each one which changes how you use it, but normally you won't be doing something that hasn't already been done thus there's tons of documentation and forum posts about. 

 

 I've been able to set a server up before(Meaning any server whatever you wanna think), however ive had the hardest time setting ssh/sftp server on my brothers computer so i could have access to files on his Windows 7 Computer from my Linux Laptop

If you just want to access files from your brother's computer just create a windows share and map it inside of linux. No need to complicate it with sftp or ssh. Assuming that his computer is local on your network. Otherwise you could just setup OpenVPN between your two networks and then still use windows file share. 

 

 

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I'm very sorry for the jumping around in my post (it's my thought process), ive been told im pretty cryptic in my writing xD Sorry. 

 

I never really sat down and thought about how old these services really are.  40+ years just amazes me. 

Ive had a FTP server setup in the past just messing around trying to familiarize myself with another service.  I just can't believe how much problems ive had setting up SSH.  In all honesty, i set it up on my laptop so easily.  like i hardly tried, but trying to put it on windows just baffles me.  My brother thinks im an idiot because i set up a server on my laptop to go between another laptop of mine and it works fine both ways. I even got putty on his machine to connect to mine, but i couldn't get OpenSSH with public key enc... to work on his machine.  ive only been able to use freessh or something like that to even slightly work. 

 

The biggest reason, other than familiarization, that i tried to set it up is because my brother lives a few blocks away and sometimes i need access to his hard drive.  a few blocks isn't any problem but the thought of using ssh to access his computer over the internet intrigued me. 

 

I used media entertainment to try not to in-criminalize myself or him.  Not that it really matters i just... it was the best i could think of.  I'm not sure what plex is, and i may want to look into it. so thank you for that.

 

I think i read somewhere that windows 10 has ssh and sshd included.  Don't quote me on that but i think you may be right in that order.  My brother just doesn't want to upgrade to it and truly i don't blame him, but i don't agree with him either.  I don't think i have a preference of an operating system.  I don't like how closed a system windows is but i know that it is very practical for users that don't understand alot about computers.  its pretty user friendly.  Don't twist my words around i think windows is absolutely wonderful. I love it, but im really starting to love linux too.  Especially when things just work.

 

Open VPN does that?  I think i may need to look into vpns more.  I just don't think i understand what they really are.  All i know about them is the cliche of it, using it to have private browsing.  What more is there?

 

 

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1 hour ago, buggzboy said:

I'm very sorry for the jumping around in my post (it's my thought process), ive been told im pretty cryptic in my writing xD Sorry. 

 

I never really sat down and thought about how old these services really are.  40+ years just amazes me. 

Ive had a FTP server setup in the past just messing around trying to familiarize myself with another service.  I just can't believe how much problems ive had setting up SSH.  In all honesty, i set it up on my laptop so easily.  like i hardly tried, but trying to put it on windows just baffles me.  My brother thinks im an idiot because i set up a server on my laptop to go between another laptop of mine and it works fine both ways. I even got putty on his machine to connect to mine, but i couldn't get OpenSSH with public key enc... to work on his machine.  ive only been able to use freessh or something like that to even slightly work. 

 

The biggest reason, other than familiarization, that i tried to set it up is because my brother lives a few blocks away and sometimes i need access to his hard drive.  a few blocks isn't any problem but the thought of using ssh to access his computer over the internet intrigued me. 

 

I used media entertainment to try not to in-criminalize myself or him.  Not that it really matters i just... it was the best i could think of.  I'm not sure what plex is, and i may want to look into it. so thank you for that.

 

I think i read somewhere that windows 10 has ssh and sshd included.  Don't quote me on that but i think you may be right in that order.  My brother just doesn't want to upgrade to it and truly i don't blame him, but i don't agree with him either.  I don't think i have a preference of an operating system.  I don't like how closed a system windows is but i know that it is very practical for users that don't understand alot about computers.  its pretty user friendly.  Don't twist my words around i think windows is absolutely wonderful. I love it, but im really starting to love linux too.  Especially when things just work.

 

Open VPN does that?  I think i may need to look into vpns more.  I just don't think i understand what they really are.  All i know about them is the cliche of it, using it to have private browsing.  What more is there?

 

 

OpenVPN is just a VPN solution. For your use case, it would be to simply securely connect your two networks.

 

You're right Windows 10 actually has some baked in linux support now. What problems are you having with freeSSHd? Once you've setup his computer to listen on 22, have you tried connecting from inside his network?

 

Plex allows you to host media (movies/pictures/music) and share it amongst family/friends, keeping it private. For playback on your PC/Roku/Chromecast it is free, and on mobile devices it requires either a subscription or one time fee for the app. However if you use the Chrome browser on your mobile device it will work. Then you can just "cast" it to chromecast/roku or whatever.

 

The nicest thing about plex is its ability to transcode, so it will playback on damn near anything. You can have h264 or h265 or divx encoded media, whatever - it will transcode it to something the destination can handle.

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