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| What
is SSH and why would
you want it? SSH stands
for Secure Shell or
Secure Shell Access.
SSH is basically a
non-graphical (for
the most part) connection
between two computers.
Secure Shell Access
is the more secure
form of Shell Access
made popular by Unix
computers. In the
past when someone
wanted to access files
from one computer
to another they would
have used a connection
known as a shell connection.
So by using this shell
connection on one
computer you could
see exactly what was
happening on the other
computer. One computer
was just a shell of
the other. Telnet
is a shell access
between computers.
As computers became
more and more advanced
so did the methods
of accessing them.
And as Linux computers
once came from Unix
(at least the main
concepts) the idea
of connecting one
computer to transferred. |
|
| As
graphical interfaces
among computers grew
you would expect that
a command line non-graphical
connection to be left
behind. This is not
so with SSH because
while graphics make
it easy to work on
a computer the connections
between two computers
must be very fast
in order for a graphical
connection to work
well. Because not
all connections are
very fast SSH maintains
some popularity. |
|
| SSH
is the equivalent
of working in DOS.
You only get words
and lines. And generally
you have to know the
unique commands to
the SSH because there
is more than one version.
So why would you want
to use it? It depends-if
you are comfortable
in working in text-based
screens and you know
the SSH commands you
can run one computer
from another pretty
easy. You could literally
remotely control a
computer from another
place in the world.
If it sounds so good,
why doesn't everyone
have access like this? |
|
| The
main reason most web
hosting companies
don't allow SSH connections
is that while they
may seem secure SSH
connections leave
a server open to security
issues. And basically
you can run one computer
from another--this
is highly desirable
for a hacker. Recently
there was a very large
security breach which
allowed hackers to
take control of servers
if the servers allowed
SSH connections. Further,
there are methods
to intercept SSH connections
and allow another
person into your files
or the server if using
SSH. And every SSH
connection allowed
is a potential access
hole for a hacker.
If you have 300 people
using SSH on a server
you are potentially
allowing 300 more
entry points for hackers.
Therefore, for security
reasons most web hosting
companies do not allow
SSH access. |
|
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