[nfbcs] USB drive on two machines at the same time?
Doug Lee
dgl at dlee.org
Sun Apr 10 08:56:27 UTC 2011
I do use a cell connection from my Laptop to the Internet, but where
ssh doesn't work, I doubt ftp does either. :) Unless I'm missing
exactly what you have in mind, which is possible.
On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 01:02:34AM -0500, Steve Jacobson wrote:
Doug,
Have you considered a cellphone connection to the internet from your laptop and then using FTP from the clients
computer to your laptop?
I think looking for greater efficiency is always worth it.
Best regards,
Steve Jacobson
On Sat, 9 Apr 2011 09:48:40 -0700, Jim Barbour wrote:
>Hey Doug,
>I do not believe such a solution exists using USB.
>Another way this type of problem gets addressed is with NAS solutions
>(client/server storage such as CIFS or NFS), I assume this doesn't
>work for you because your laptop is not allowed directly on your
>customer's corperate network.
>I wish you luck,
>Jim
>On Sat, Apr 09, 2011 at 12:28:31PM -0400, Doug Lee wrote:
>> Apologies for the length of this message, but I am writing to address
>> the question of why I keep trying to make this unusual connection
>> among machines instead of using the various alternatives suggested in
>> this discussion, because I keep seeing answers like "Why not do this
>> instead."
>>
>> As I suppose may seem typical with questions I post on lists, there
>> are a lot of issues surrounding why I have to raise the question in
>> the first place. In this case, since I develop scripts for a lot of
>> organizations and share code among projects that is filtered for any
>> content relevant specifically to an organization unrelated to the
>> current deployment destination, it is often necessary for me to make
>> code transfers and adaptations on my laptop which can not reasonably
>> be made on the target machine, simply because I shouldn't put all past
>> projects' code up there. The obvious solution to that issue is to
>> develop on the laptop, but since development necessarily centers
>> around tests and experiments on the target machine, this is
>> complicated unless it is quick to deploy such work to that machine.
>> This is the simplest explanation I can think of for the cause of the
>> problem I'm trying to solve. I am very actively trying to reduce the
>> number of occasions when I must do this sort of adaptation, in effect
>> by creating code snippets that are prescreened for lack of content
>> specific to any job. But at present, access to past projects remains
>> useful in many jobs I do, and I actually tell clients that I do this
>> sort of adaptation to save both them and everyone else time and money.
>>
>> A number of alternatives have been suggested in this thread, and from
>> memory, I'll address them here, at the risk of missing one or two.
>>
>> Trevor suggested I make my own subnet by detaching the target machine
>> from the client's LAN. This is usually impractical because most
>> client software actively requires that LAN to run. Example: A call
>> center application can't run without access to the call center's
>> database servers, and sometimes even the user's telephone via an IP
>> connection.
>>
>> Steve suggested that I move everything to the client system, do my
>> work, then move it all back. I addressed a lot of that one above.
>>
>> Keeping things on the thumb drive and moving it between machines is an
>> obvious solution, and it does work, but it slows things down,
>> sometimes considerably, by requiring so many connects and disconnects.
>>
>> My most frequent solution is an ssh connection to our central office,
>> which solves the whole problem nicely. But of course, these
>> connections are also getting more and more often shut off as well.
>>
>> To address the general security concern of my being able to read/write
>> data to/from the target machine at all, all I can think to say quickly
>> is that we already have to sign various agreements concerning
>> behavior, data handling, etc., that legally bind me to do the right
>> thing with any sensitive information I bump into. My work does go
>> across security lines in an unusual way for clients' business models,
>> inasmuch as my work is totally unrelated to clients' business models
>> but interrelates across most any business model I encounter; that is
>> to say, accessibility work and data share equally across call
>> centers, government agencies, banks, etc. but incorporate zero
>> sensitive information relative to any of those. So the fact that I
>> try to do odd things within a security domain is easy to explain for
>> anyone who understands what I do. I'm just preparing for the
>> inevitability that this will not always grant me passage to do it
>> anyway. My goal is not to circumvent security policies but to have at
>> hand as many alternatives as possible that fit within them while still
>> maximizing the efficiency of what I can do.
>>
>> Maybe I go too far, in the minds of some, to try to increase the
>> efficiency of the things I do. :) I knew I was running up hill a bit
>> by asking this question in the first place, or the solution, and
>> corresponding hardware, would surely be more prominently available out
>> there.
>>
>> So I think the overall answer from this thread is that nobody knows of
>> the type of device I'm looking for. If so, it's ok with me for the
>> thread to close, even if with an unfortunate end. :)
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 06, 2011 at 01:13:33PM -0500, Steve Jacobson wrote:
>> Doug,
>>
>> I wonder if bluetooth would be a solution. Plugging in a bluetooth receiver if the machine doesn't have that
capability is usually pretty painless. The trouble
>> is that any continuous connection between your laptop and the computer connected to a network will be viewed
with suspicion. Even if you can't read
>> from the network, writing offers the possibility of transmitting a virus or worm into the network, and people worry
about that almost as much as the information
>> you might pull out. Some won't like any connection with your laptop whether it is wired, wi-fi, or bluetooth, because
unless they watch you, they can't know
>> if you are opening up a path to the network. Perhaps the best approach is to figure out the most efficient way to
get what you need for developing
>> transferred to the target maching and pulling back anything that has changed at the end of your session.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Steve Jacobson
>>
>> On Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:19:00 -0400, Doug Lee wrote:
>>
>> >The problem I'm trying to solve is this: I frequently script at
>> >company and government locations that will not allow me to connect my
>> >laptop to the local network. Some sites don't allow write access to
>> >USB drives either. I develop scripts on my laptop much of the time
>> >because I have tools there for managing the process, but of course the
>> >scripts must be installed on the machine at the location where I'm
>> >working.
>>
>> >So the two-USB-connector drive idea would work like this: I would
>> >write code on my laptop and run an installer from the same drive to
>> >install on the office machine. The same can of course be achieved
>> >without the extra USB connector just by moving the drive back and
>> >forth between machines, but in rapid-turnaround testing situations,
>> >which are frequent, that becomes much slower than my idea would be.
>>
>> >On Wed, Apr 06, 2011 at 12:07:52PM -0500, Steve Jacobson wrote:
>> >Doug,
>>
>> >I think you are right, that just using two connections is going to be unreliable. I would think that your best
approach would be to share the drive on one
>> >computer and make it available to the other through a wireless network connection. I assume that the problem
with networks is that you don't want to be
>> on
>> >a larger network and you may not have ethernet connections. I know that Windows has a create wireless
network wizzard that seems to be for sharing
>> >resources and devices as opposed to just connecting to a network, but I have never tried this. Good luck.
>>
>> >Best regards,
>>
>> >Steve Jacobson
>>
>>
>> >On Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:56:38 -0400, Doug Lee wrote:
>>
>> >>I think any drive or device allowing simultaneous connections would
>> >>have to be designed especially for this usage, because something has
>> >>to arbitrate the simultaneous access, deal with caching issues, etc.
>> >>You do highlight a curiosity I've long had though, about what would
>> >>happen if I try two connection types at once as you suggest. The same
>> >>would apply to any drive with both a USB and a Firewire connector.
>>
>> >>On Wed, Apr 06, 2011 at 11:15:38AM -0500, Bryan Schulz wrote:
>> >>hi,
>>
>> >>i suspect you would overload the drive with double the voltage but...
>> >>if you have the drive to experiment with destroying,
>> >>get a usb/esata external enclosure as newer laptops have the new esata
>> >>port then one computer could connect by regular usb and the other
>> >>computer could connect thru the esata cable.
>>
>> >>Bryan Schulz
>>
>> >>----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Lee" <dgl at dlee.org>
>> >>To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>> >>Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 10:02 AM
>> >>Subject: [nfbcs] USB drive on two machines at the same time?
>>
>>
>> >>>I'm not sure where best to ask this question, so besides actual
>> >>>answers, I welcome pointers on where to send this one. My excuse for
>> >>>posting this here in the first place is that I need the device I'm
>> >>>about to describe for scripting projects. :)
>> >>>
>> >>>I am looking for a USB drive, or better yet, a USB device that allows
>> >>>a drive to be connected to it, that then allows the drive to be
>> >>>plugged into the USB ports of two computers at the same time. To each
>> >>>computer, it would be a USB drive pretty much like any other. I know
>> >>>this issue is normally solved with a Network Appliance, but that is
>> >>>not possible in my situation for security reasons.
>> >>>
>> >>>A specific example: I want to plug this device into, say, a desktop
>> >>>computer's USB port and a laptop's USB port at the same time, write
>> >>>files to the drive from the laptop, and read them off the drive with
>> >>>the desktop. I'm even ok if the drive is mounted read/write by the
>> >>>laptop but as read-only by the desktop. (This would cover most
>> >>>security issues I've encountered in my work, since most sites will let
>> >>>you bring data into a machine but not write it back out of it.) The
>> >>>device must use USB connections, not Ethernet (Cat 5) connections. As
>> >>>a last resort if the two-USB idea doesn't exist, I could probably work
>> >>>with something that allowed one USB connection and a simultaneous WiFi
>> >>>connection, as long as the WiFi connection supports WPA2.
>> >>>
>> >>>I notice one technical detail that may present a problem: The OS on
>> >>>the desktop, in my above example, would somehow need to know not to
>> >>>cache the drive data aggressively, even if it mounts the drive as a
>> >>>read-only device, because the laptop could change the data at any
>> >>>moment.
>> >>>
>> >>>Does such a device exist anywhere?
>> >>>
>> >>>--
>> >>>Doug Lee dgl at dlee.org http://www.dlee.org
>> >>>SSB BART Group doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com
>> >>>http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
>> >>>"The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit
>> >>>of it. You have to catch up with it yourself." --Benjamin Franklin
>> >>>
>> >>>_______________________________________________
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>>
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>> >>--
>> >>Doug Lee dgl at dlee.org http://www.dlee.org
>> >>SSB BART Group doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
>> >>"Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you
>> >>to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is
>> >>not in vain." --Helen Keller
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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>> >--
>> >Doug Lee dgl at dlee.org http://www.dlee.org
>> >SSB BART Group doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
>> >"Innovation is hard to schedule." -- Dan Fylstra
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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>> --
>> Doug Lee dgl at dlee.org http://www.dlee.org
>> SSB BART Group doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
>> "I forgot, because I wanted to forget, except I don't remember
>> forgetting." --Sarah Alawami
>>
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--
Doug Lee dgl at dlee.org http://www.dlee.org
SSB BART Group doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
"Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your
path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on to say, `Why were
things of this sort ever brought into the world?'"
--Marcus Aurelius
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