JanusPA - A hardware Privacy Adapter using Tor

Tue Dec 23 17:03:08 UTC 2008

Hi John,
Yeah, the 133MHz CPU just isn't going to be fast enough for my needs, plus
the extra ports is a bit over kill for this specific application.  I know
the gumstix is a higher price, but it is exactly what I needed.  Thanks for
the feedback though.  All this neat hardware that people are sharing is
giving me ideas for future projects.

- Kyle

On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 8:18 AM, Jonathan Yu <jonathan.i.yu at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi:
>
> What about the Soekris boards?
>
> The lowest end board, net4501, with a case is $173 USD.
>
> https://www.soekris.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=75
>
> 133 Mhz CPU, 64 Mbyte SDRAM, 3 Ethernet, 2 Serial, CF socket, 1
> Mini-PCI socket, 3.3V PCI connector.
>
> The low processor speed may hinder encryption, but other than that, it
> looks like it would make a pretty good replacement for Gumstix.
> Probably not as small, though.
>
> It might be nice to note that these boards have been in production for
> a pretty long time and continue to be so. Also some firmwares like
> DD-WRT support this hardware.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jon
>
> On Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 8:14 AM, Kyle Williams <kyle.kwilliams at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Hello Everyone,
> > I've been working on a project for a couple of months now that I'm sure
> > would be of interest to some of you.  The goal was to apply the same
> > transparent model coderman and I  used with JanusVM and Tor VM into
> > hardware.  I wanted something small that you could connect, power on, and
> > use.  Literally plug-n-privacy.  After several weeks of searching the web
> > looking at different hardware configuration, specs, etc, etc, I decided
> to
> > go with Gumstix(.com).
> > The privacy adapter is a ARM 400MHz Xscale CPU with 64MB RAM (@100MHz),
> 16MB
> > of Flash memory for storage, and *TWO* 10/100 NICs.  It uses Linux for
> the
> > OS.
> > The first thought that many people get, including myself, have is that it
> is
> > not powerful enough to run Tor.  Well, after 2 months of breaking this
> in,
> > I'm very happy with the results.
> > I ran this as a Tor server for about 4 days, and got a good baseline for
> how
> > much data it can handle.  As a Tor server, it was pushing about 250KB/sec
> > (125KB in, 125 KB out).
> > As a Tor client, the best speed test I got was about 1.2MB/sec.  BTW,
> that
> > was after about 45 minutes of "SIGNAL NEWNYM" and speedtest before I
> found a
> > fast circuit.
> > Here's the URL for what I've got so far.
> > http://www.janusvm.com/goldy/JanusPA/index.html
> > It is lacking all forms of documentation, and the source code needs to be
> > cleaned up some.
> > It does have a general description, the index of the soon to come
> > documentation, openssl speed test benchmarks, pictures, and stats of when
> I
> > tested it as a Tor server.
> > After about two months of using it, I've never felt more secure and
> > satisfied when using Tor.  This is a hardware router that routes your
> > traffic through the Tor network, it's small, and is easy to use.  As for
> > security, all TCP and DNS are routed through Tor, and everything else is
> > dropped.  So all the nasty side-channel attacks that us hackers have been
> > working on to leak your real IP address are rendered useless.
> > But there is good news and bad news.
> > The bad news:
> > The manufacture (Gumstix.com) is "Phasing Out" this particular setup at
> the
> > end of DECEMBER 2008!!  That's in 10 days!  Any orders after Dec. 31,
> 2008
> > will have to be in bulk orders, which is 120 or more units.  Shitty.
> >  Because of the short amount of time left to get this hardware, I've
> jumped
> > the gun and chosen to notify the Tor community about this hardware before
> it
> > is gone or out of a practical price range for most of us.
> > The good news:
> > I've been in communication with a very nice gentleman at gumstix who said
> > "Gumstix is also working on a netDUO expansion board for Overo, although
> a
> > release date has not been announced."  There is reasonable hope that
> there
> > new motherboad product line (the Overo) will at some point have a dual
> NIC
> > expansion board.
> > So this is somewhat a conflicting situation.  I've spent months working
> on
> > this awesome anonymity adpater, and it's about to be discontinued without
> > knowing an exact date as to when the new line with have the capabilities
> to
> > do what needs to be done.  ugh.  I'm very much looking forward to their
> new
> > product line when a dual NIC expansion board is available, but I don't
> know
> > when that'll be.  If anyone is interested in this, but cannot afford to
> buy
> > hardware at the moment, please contact Don Anderson (don at gumstix.com)and
> > encourage the idea of extending their phase out date or express and
> interest
> > in a dual NIC expansion board for their new Overo product line.
> > If anyone is interested in getting a hardware based Tor solution, you
> might
> > want to consider buying a gumstix soon.
> > You'll need the following.
> > Connex 400mx Motherboard:
> >
> http://www.gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=136
> > netDUO-mmc/SD expansion board:
> >
> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=156
> > 4.0v Power Adapter:
> >
> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=148
> > Screws and spacer kit:
> >
> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=161
> > This will run you $237.00 USD + shipping and handling.
> > I would also *HIGHLY* recommend the following because flashing the device
> > over the network is very, very risky and has resulted in me having to
> > re-flash it through the serial port many, many times.
> > Serial null-modem cable:
> >
> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=85
> > Serial port connector:
> >
> http://gumstix.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=106
> > This will run you $32.00 USD.
> > If anyone is seriously thinking about a good hardware based solution for
> > Tor, I'd buy the gumstix now.  In fact, I just bought a couple more just
> in
> > case mine breaks. I'll have the source code up withing a week, two tops
>  The
> > FULL documentation will take about a bit longer to get done.
> > Well, that's about it.  Feedback is welcome.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Kyle
> > PS.  Happy Holidays!
>
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