Now that I have some dynamic DNS through No-IP.com, I'm about to set up a second SSH hardened server on my Mac server using a different port, based on this blog post. What remains is to make that port reachable through my router. One of the main downsides of the somewhat overpriced AirPort Extreme of Apple is that adding a port forwarding rule makes the router restart. Actually, most configuration changes, even the smallest, make it restart.
This is where the UPnP and NAT-PMP comes into play. Those protocols makes it possible for some software to "talk" to your router to dynamically add a port forwarding rule that remains active until the computer reboots. Now, all I'll have to do is play with the code of MiniUPnP and libnatpmp and make a client that opens the port at each reboot. But then, time is short, so that will have to wait for a little while.
Published on September 10, 2012 at 21:46 EDT
Older post: Closed Platforms vs General-Purpose Computing
Newer post: Time-Shifting the Web