RE: fix.your.open.relay.or.die.net -- MIDRANGE-L

Chris,

There is ALWAYS an "it depends" in this industry. <G>

In my original post I almost sent "...YOU should never connect YOUR
AS/400..." but I changed it to say "...I would never connect my AS/400..."
for precisely that reason. The decision to place a production box (of any
kind) on the internet must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

-Walden


------------
Walden H Leverich III
President
Tech Software
(516)627-3800 x11
WaldenL@TechSoftInc.com
http://www.TechSoftInc.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Rehm [mailto:javadisciple@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 2:09 PM
To: midrange-l@midrange.com
Subject: Re: fix.your.open.relay.or.die.net


On Tuesday 20 November 2001 10:44 am, Walden H. Leverich wrote:

But in fairness, the issue of an open relay is a little different. That is
like giving a public user account away without CPU limits. When the public
user shows up and starts burning CPU, the system will pay the price.

I agree that attaching the iSeries to the internet has a degree of risk. So,
I'd say that each situation should be judged on its own risk/return basis,
right? I'm pretty sure Rochester would agree that you should buy an extra
machine to be your gateway box, and they can help you configure that puppy.
But some people might not have the cash for that but do have a need for
internet access that outweighs the risk.

Your caution is prudent, but I'm hoping (and pretty sure) its not overboard.

> But it is an AS/400 problem TOO. This problem (no, not unique to the
AS/400)
> resulted in a denial of service of ALL the apps on his AS/400. In
> IBM's view[1] of the world one would have everything centralized on
> one box, an AS/400. If that was the case here, this simple tar-pit
> could have resulted in the loss (or severe degradation) of the
> following services until it was
> resolved:
>
> 1) E-Mail
> 2) Database
> 3) Application Server
> 4) Web Server
> 5) DNS Server
> 6) File Serving
> 7) Green-Screen Interactive
> 8) ...
>
> My point is, server consolidation, and exposure of "production" boxes
> of
any
> kind to the internet, is something that I'm not a great fan of.
>
> -Walden
>
> [1] At least in Rochester's view. Let's not get on an IBM Marketing
thread,
> please.
>
> ------------
> Walden H Leverich III
> President
> Tech Software
> (516)627-3800 x11
> WaldenL@TechSoftInc.com
> http://www.TechSoftInc.com
>
>

--
Chris Rehm
javadisciple@earthlink.net

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart... ...Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than
these. Mark 12:30-31 _______________________________________________
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