|
HP OpenVMS Systemsask the wizard |
|
The Question is: Hi Wizard, I have an interesting problem that I'd be very keen to hear your response to... A customer has four alphaservers running VMS 7.1. They have clients who connect to the systems over frame relay links using Telnet. However, the information sent over these links is often sensitive and so they have been looking for a replacement for Telne t for some time. So the question is... Does Stunnel work effectively on VMS? This is quite a large scale operation, often having hundreds of telnet connections open at any one time. Are there any real-world examples of Stunnel performing admirably under t hese circumstances? I've been looking everywhere and I can't even find good documentation on OpenSSL under VMS. Any clues to the above questions, or clues to other avenues to pursue?... Rgds. The Answer is : Use an encrypting datalink or (more commonly) an encrypting IP tunnel. Various of these IP tools are available -- since you are using IP, you will want to locate a tunnel package for your client or for an IP router on your client network(s), and you will want to locate a server for your target host or an IP router on your target network. OpenSSL and related network encryption packages are referenced in the OpenVMS FAQ. If you have questions or such on the sites or the documentation that are referenced in the FAQ, please contact the maintainers of the FAQ-referenced sites directly. There exists Stunnel information and source code available from the Stunnel.org website, and there does appear to be an OpenVMS port of Stunnel around -- the OpenVMS Wizard has located an Stunnel V3.8 port available from the Encompass Compaq User's Group (formerly DECUS), and other ports and/or other/later versions may well be available. The Stunnel package reportedly uses encryption that is compatible with OpenSSL and related encryption schemes "on the wire". Neither OpenVMS nor the TCP/IP Services package provide datalink-level encryption capabilities at present, though the OpenVMS Wizard will forward your request to the product managers of these areas.
|