Re: Non-hard drive partitions on locked down server?

From: Mike (honey_at_michaelmoyse.co.uk)
Date: 03/08/05 

Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 12:21:27 +0000

Jem Berkes wrote:
> I am working on setting up a server that will be locked away in a
> physically inaccessible place, and am trying to take some precautionary
> measures to minimize downtime. The server doesn't have to do much, really
> just a log in server for ssh/ssl/vnc gateway purposes. Minor storage.
>
> I want to have no hard drives on this system.
>
> The bulk of the filesystem can be loaded off of CD-ROMs. This is of course
> read-only and physically unalterable. A reboot would restore the system
> state. Persistent intruders would be (nearly) impossible.
>
> Does anyone have any experience using something like a USB flash drive for
> non-volatile storage on such a setup? I know I could use RAM drives but I
> need persistent storage (log files, home directories) and don't care much
> about speed at all. The disk access will be minor.
>
> As I understand it, many USB flash drives insist on carrying FAT file
> systems. If that is the case then how can I go about introducing multiple
> filesystem mount points within a SINGLE physical flash drive?
>
> Would it work to, within a single FAT partition for the flash drive, create
> multiple files to use as loopback mounts? I presume this will safely offer
> all the UNIX permissions I need once those loopbacks are mounted.
>
> Or any other ideas for how to do persistent r/w storage without using a
> hard drive? I also don't have any network storage, must be local.
>

Compact flash card loaded into an IDE adapter? 

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Relevant Pages

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