back to article German server lockbox scores MEELLION dollar seed-smashing record

Cheers and laughter could be heard late last night through the walls of a small Hamburg office as staff celebrated an unlikely win; their punt to build a NSA-subverting server that encrypts everything a small business might do in the office had made bank with a record-breaking $US1 million in crowdfunding sourced in 89 mins. …

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  1. Buzzword

    And the clients?

    So you've successfully encrypted your server; but what happens when you access your files or emails from your compromised Windows or Android client? Or does your small business run exclusively on Linux?

    1. PhilipJ

      Re: And the clients?

      is't the whole "product" just a regular PC in an orange case with some basic free tools installed and preconfigured ?

      I mean what did they actually do ?

      1. Paul Crawford Silver badge

        Re: And the clients?

        "I mean what did they actually do ?"

        Probably what most IT folk and businesses do - turn existing stuff in to a product/service that works/sells according to demand.

        1. Steven Raith

          Re: And the clients?

          Paul is correct.

          You can build a linux box to dial your VDSL line, act as a 100+mb/s firewall, create VPNs, route multiple subnets via VLAN tagging etc over the course of a couple of days (or quicker if you're good)....

          ...Or you can throw £200 at the problem and buy a Draytek router and just slap your details in, and have it all working in under an hour.

          Steven R

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: And the clients?

            You can build a linux box to dial your VDSL line....

            Sorry ?? dial a VDSL line ?? How, pray ??

            1. Steven Raith

              Re: And the clients?

              Oh, you know what I mean - plumb an ethernet VDSL modem into it and get the Linux side to do the PPPoE handshake etc.

              You delicious pedant, you ;-)

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: And the clients?

            > Or you can throw £200 at the problem and buy a Draytek router and just slap your details in, and have it all working in under an hour.

            And at which point you become rich by doing that?

            1. Stoneshop

              Re: And the clients?

              And at which point you become rich by doing that?

              Depends. If you're actually selling those Draytek routers, it's pretty straightforward.

              If you would have to pay someone to build and configure that Linux box, you're getting rich by saving whatever that would amount to over the stipulated 200 quid.

              If you do it yourself, you're denied the possibility to work on someone else's problem during that time, even if it has nowt to do with IT, like lawnmoowing, and bill them for your effort.

          3. Terry Cloth

            100 millibits/sec?

            That's even slower than VLF transmissions to submarines.

            1. Steven Raith

              Re: 100 millibits/sec?

              Terry - it was a Plusnet line, natch.

              As for 'getting rich' - it's not all about money. I'd rather spend an hour configuring a Draytek (or less depending on what you're doing) then go do something more fun/more chargeable knowing that I don't have to look at the Draytek for another five years, as opposed to spending three or more hours churning away at a linux/windows box to make it a router, and worrying about when it's PSU will pop, CPU fan will fail, disk drive failure, NIC crapping itself etc. I'd not even use a Syno NAS as a gateway for the same reason - too many moving parts to trust it long term.

              We had a 2830n in recently from a holiday home, where it was kept in the 'washing machine' cupboard. Guest had spilled Daz all over it, had got into it, etc. Emptied it out, IPAd the board a bit, generally cleaned up the WLAN card contacts, put it back together, fired it up on our line with our config image (as we use a 2830 for our workshop ADSL), and boom, working again immediately. That is robust.

              Peace of mind is worth a lot to me, and anyone else who charges for their time or has a reputation to maintain. The Drayteks might not have the fastest WLAN in the world, or the best NAS performance from a USB drive connected to it, but they're a piece of piss to set up and they are fucking bulletproof.

              I dare say Cisco/Netgear etc have their own business class range of devices that are just as good, but in my entire career, I've never seen a dead Draytek, out of dealing with hundreds. That's good enough for me.

              Appliances have their place, believe me.

              1. John Stirling

                Re: 100 millibits/sec?

                I've seen a dead draytek. My old (and much loved) 2950 died one monday morning recently. Had to drive to draytek uk to get a 2960. Took 30 mins to configure. Love it.

                My home 2860 is perhaps a *little* over specced for it's purpose but replaced the dead 2800 beautifully.

                Doesn't matter how good they are, everything dies in the end.

                1. Steven Raith

                  Re: 100 millibits/sec?

                  Oh, everything dies, but some things take a lot longer than others, and are easier to replace when they do. Like Drayteks.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    did anyone else notice that the "lockbox" in the title has been changed to love box in the article URI ?

    Perchance an SEO consultation ?

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/05/german_server_lovebox_scores_meelion_dollar_seedsmashing_record/

  3. Another User

    Not fit for purpose

    Cisco gear was supposedly intercepted on route to the customer and "enhanced" by the NSA.

    Why should a Protonet or Draytek router be safe then?

    This needs to be solved with laws and punishment. Society should not accept secret laws, secret courts, and secret services infringing on everybody's rights.

    Kafka is closer than we think. Today there is news about a planned secret trial against two terror suspects. Why aren't we allowed to know who is accused and of what?

    1. jason 7

      Re: Not fit for purpose

      "Why aren't we allowed to know who is accused and of what?"

      I guess because it involves some new or undisclosed form of surveillance that is highly contentious and probably illegal in most courts.

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