On Friday 16 July 2010 12:27:46 Jonathan Tripathy wrote:
> 
I think the challenges are bigger than with separate physicals boxes. 
You
>  have to approach from a theoretical point of view. It's not 
that because
>  there are no breaches or exploits today, that there 
will never be. The
>  theory is this: maximum seclusion is maximum 
security. Two separate boxes
>  in two separate networks in let's say 
two separate buildings (physical
>  security is also part of the 
game)  will be the most secure. Xen presents
>  an exception to 
this: the seclusion is created by software. In theory it
>  is the 
same thing as physical seclusion, until the software fails or is
>  
compromised.
> Another thing is human error: you WILL make mistakes. One 
of those mistakes
> may open open the wrong port, erase the wrong LUN, 
bridge the wrong NIC.
>  I've done quite some security in my time and 
the biggest problem is always
>  human error. We need to humbly 
acknowledge this.
> In short: it's certainly a bigger risk, but the 
consequences of
>  compromising your server might lead you to accept 
this risk.
>
> 
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> 
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>
> I 100% agree with you on this :) 
By splitting things up, you can limit the
>  "damage zone".  And 
I can see what you mean about the human area - you
>  really need 
your head screwed on when working with all this stuff!
>
> Do people 
on this list generally trust Xen with their private data, mixed
>  
with public VMs? The folks over at Slicehost, Amazon etc.. seem 
to...
>
I would be surprised if Amazon does this. Only their 
management stuff will be
connected to the pulbic 
infrastructure.
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Ah, sorry I wasn't suggesting that Amazon's web shop runs on 
their EC2 cloud. I was just simply stating that Amazon seem to trust Xen with a 
mixture of customer VMs, that's all