From: dic5340@hertz.njit.edu (David Charlap)
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: The NT file system
Date: 23 Jul 92 18:06:17 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <1992Jul22.171518.22291@eng.ufl.edu> jon@alpha.ee.ufl.edu (Jon Mellott) writes:
>In article <1992Jul22.160800.4154@nuscc.nus.sg>, eletanjm@nuscc.nus.sg (TAN JIN MENG) writes:
>|> CIVENBAH@mizzou1.missouri.edu writes:
>|> : ...how about a stand-alone computer used by many students at a
>|> : school.  Each has his homework password protected from all other students.
>|> 
>|> That is **NO** protection at all! For secure systems, you need a
>|> physically secure server storing all the sensitive data. Access is then
>|> from client workstations. For file protection, you really need a
>|> physically secure file server.

>Eh? There are varying definitions of security. In either case, there is 
>no requirement for a *file server*. There is nothing special about that
>network interface which provides security. Files can be stored locally 
>on a machine and be secure -- all you have to do is prevent the users of 
>the machine from being able to compromise the security of their
>workstation. 

This is much easier said than done.  Have you ever tried to disable
booting from floppies without disconnecting the floppy drives?  

This point aside, a school environment is no place for a file system
where everybody can get at it.  Have you ever seen the abuse that
school computers get?  The machine wouldn't survive a minute!

Ignoring the abuse factor, if you have more than a few students, there
will lines out the door to get access to the machine.  In high school,
there were five Apple clone computers, and it wasn't nearly enough for
everyone to get their work done.  This was with simple floppy-based
systems.  The only ones who got anything done were the people who had
compatible computers at home.

In other words, you're going to need many workstations, or the
students will end up using floppies, doing work at home.  Either way,
protecting a local hard drive will do little good, aside from keeping
immature students out of the system files (del c:\*.*)

It's also a well known fact that no matter how well you secure the
software, if the file server is physically accessible to outsiders, it
can be compromised quite easilly.  At the worst, someone could just
steal the computer out of the room!

For any decent security, the file server must be in a different
(locked) room away from the workstation.

>NT will (initially) be only a single-user OS. The multi-user protection 
>provides the advantage of isolating users from each other and isolating 
>system configuration data from user configuration data. For example, our 
>workgroup has a couple of PCs in a commonly accessible location for use 
>by anybody in the group. These PCs are routinely getting messed up because 
>each user moves things around to suit his/herself. Protected user profiles 
>will provide a more consistent environment for the users of these PCs.

It's a nice concept as long as nobody needs the computer for very
much.  If you've more than one person who needs lots of computer time,
a shared workstation very quickly loses any and all value.

-- 
   |)  David Charlap           "I don't even represent myself
  /|_  dic5340@hertz.njit.edu   sometimes so NJIT is right out!.
 ((|,)
  ~|~  Hi! I am a .signature virus, copy me into your .signature file.
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy