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Administering a PC in a Vacation Rental Home? 97

Posted by Cliff from the ammenities-and-security-nightmares dept.
mrn121 asks: "Some relatives of mine are preparing their beach house for rental, and they have asked me to assist in setting up some of the on-site technology. One of my ideas was to add a computer with high-speed internet access to the house, but security issues may be overwhelming. I have administered campus computing labs in the past, so I am familiar with locking systems down, but I am curious about what level of security readers might suggest, and how to go about achieving an appropriate balance between security and usability for such an application. On one hand, I don't want renters to clutter the computer with software and useless bookmarks, but on the other hand, I don't want the system to be utterly useless. One major difference between this computer and a lab computer is that I will not have access to the machine for the entire summer, while the house is being rented."
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Administering a PC in a Vacation Rental Home? More

Administering a PC in a Vacation Rental Home?

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  • Don't bother locking it down (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mcgroarty ( 633843 ) <brian@mcgroarty.gmail@com> on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:31PM (#9317440) Homepage
    I say don't bother to lock it down. They're on vacation -- let them use it however they like. And without physically securing the thing, there's not much you can do about some bored kid's hostile pranks for the next guest. What I'd do is to get one of those cheap $30 IDE removable hard drive kits and a second drive, then use Norton Ghost or even a Linux install with a script using "dd" to make an image of the normal drive's install on the removable drive.

    If you make the removable drive have boot priority, you can even make it an automated process, where the vacationers or the rental agent are told they can restore the computer to "fresh state" themselves by sliding the drive in, turning the key, powering up, waiting for it to do the copy, then shutting down, unlocking the drive bay, and putting the drive away again.

    Aside from that, set up Windows update to install automatically, use a DSL/cable router box that blocks pretty much everything inbound, and hope for the best.

    • All fine, until that removable drive removes itself from the house.

    • Re:Don't bother locking it down (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Vaevictis666 ( 680137 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:40PM (#9317535)
      Better than a removable drive would be a "hidden" hard drive partition. Get Windows (or whatever) installed onto partition 1, and have partition 2 non-visible from windows. Then boot into either Dos or a live cd (I highly recommend Bart's PE Builder [nu2.nu] for a live win xp cd) and take a ghost image of partition 1 and save the image on the hidden partition 2. Then as backup maybe make a CD set or something.

      You shouldn't be worrying about what goes on while they're there, but after the rental ends just pop over with the live cd, restore the disk image, and it's fresh for the next rental.

    • Me too. I took one of those it training courses where you go off and attend a class for a week and pretend to learn things instead of actually working. Anyways, all the students needed high level access on the PC and some access on the domain. The training center administrators just had everything set up so they could reimage everything for each new class. It worked nicely.

      Let your customers do whatever they want, then just reimage the pc for the next guys.
    • A better idea might be a bootable DVD with said automated "dd" script. You'd probably want to have at least a combo drive in the thing anyway. I doubt the fresh install state would take up more than a few GB, plus when your image disk "mysteriously disappears" you're not out much, and you can easily fedex a new copy. Heck, you might even be able to fit it on a single CD if you're careful.

  • As to the first 'W'...What OS? As to the second 'w' WHO???? Since it's likely you won't know who the hell your renting to, security of the type you seek is nearly impossible to determine. If the name on the rental agreement. is "Bea, Aunt", you might be a-okay. If the name is "Kevin, Mitnick", you might some larger issues. Also, you don't mention what, if any screening process you may want to enact. Even there, screening might not be enough. If it's the name on the renter's agreement is "Average, Joe", bu

    • Re:WWW???? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @03:21PM (#9317935)
      I think it is fairly safe to assume that it being a vacation rental, presumably not in a resort community for programmers, that choices #1-5 will be windows 9x+, #6 might be mac OS X, with linux battling it out at #7 with windows 3.1. I am not trying to be all anti-linux here, but this is a vacation setting, you want to keep people as happy and comfortable as possible, not completely shatter some average guy's self perception of computer literacy.

      As for protecting what damage the computer can do to the rest of the world, there are also easy OS agnostic solutions you did not realize- mainly a firewall. blocking all outgoing/ingoing ports except port 80 should keep anyone protected. Unless someone needs VPN access to their job, it is reasonable to only restrict them to the web. Yeah if someone knowledgable really wants to get around the system, they can... but who really rents a vacation house when they can go to a library. Its all about being reasonable- He probably has no idea who he is going to be renting to either... There is a threat of an axe murderer renting it and burying bodies in the basement, does that mean you recommend putting video surveilence down there?

      Your idea of screening tenants to see what computer background they have is silly. hes renting a vacation house with a computer, not a computer with a vacation house.

      It is posts like this that really make me want a (-1, stick up ass) moderation.
      • Thank you for taking the words right out of my mouth... It saved me from having to type that exact same response.

      • Re:WWW???? (Score:1, Flamebait)

        by bluethundr ( 562578 ) *
        I think it is fairly safe to assume that it being a vacation rental, presumably not in a resort community for programmers,

        NEWSFLASH: programmers are as likely to take a vacation as much as anyone. You don't need to be a programmer to get admin access to a box you have physical access to. Any dumbass teenager with a book and an interest in computers can compromise your system. The point is, you can't assume who's going to be there. Security through obscurity ain't the answer, genius!

        that choices #1-5 wil
    • ...and who the heck is this "Kevin, Mitnick" guy you're talking about... Mr. Mitnick Kevin probably catches a lot of grief at airports and in hotels for having a similar name to an infamous character... ^_^

  • Windows XP (Score:3, Informative)

    by Nasarius ( 593729 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:36PM (#9317489)
    If you're going to do it with Windows, use XP and let everyone create their own limited account. All the "clutter" goes into their personal storage, not the whole system.

  • Knoppix (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Col. Klink (retired) ( 11632 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:37PM (#9317494)
    I'd leave it completely diskless and put a Knoppix CD in.

  • Why bother with a PC? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TrebleJunkie ( 208060 ) <ezahurakNO@SPAMatlanticbb.net> on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:37PM (#9317500) Homepage Journal
    If I were you, I'd go *only* as far as supplying a broadband connection, a cable/DSL router (which should block *most* crap by default) with DHCP enabled, a hub/switch (if necessary) in a closet somewhere. Then, in plain view, ethernet wall jack and a one-page sheet of instructions on how to make it work with *their* computer. Maybe a spare ethernet cable or two.

    The way I figger it, if they can afford to rent a beach house, they can probably afford their own laptop if they wanna get some work done. And the most you'll have to do to service it *should* be to tell them to recycle the power on the router or cable modem, and you don't have to worry about the PC.
    • This past Christmas my family and I rented a house in Florida, while they didn't have a nice router set up or anything they did have a broadband connection available. All of my family brought their laptops and I brought a wireless router and we were all happly online.

      I will definately second leaving instructions behind, the people we rented from didn't leave directions and I ended up calling the ISP to get everything set up (ended up having to use a static IP and such). In the long run I left instruction
    • I agree. Give them the pipe and let them use their own computer. You did not say what country this house is in, but if it is in the USA you would be protecting yourself from a potential lawsuit that way. IANAL, but the way the courts work these days I wouldn't be suprised if you couldn't be sued on the grounds that your hardware is to blame for all that kiddie porn/mp3s/etc/wrote a virus/failed to pay 10 million Nigerian dollars/etc/etc/etc.

    • you're still screwed (Score:3, Insightful)

      by RMH101 ( 636144 )
      ...if they use that connection to do anything illegal or nasty. your name'll be on the ISP's billing system...
  • Just give them enough permissions to open mozilla and vncviewer and mount and burn a cd. It's a vacation house - what else would they need?

  • Lock the main computer in a closet (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Marxist Hacker 42 ( 638312 ) <seebert42@gmail.com> on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:38PM (#9317506) Homepage Journal
    Along with a good Wifi firewall, and rent the place out as "WiFi enabled high speed internet access". That way, you can just give the WAP passwords to the rental agent, and people are responsible for their own machines.
  • You should use some sort of Image program, such as Acronis, ghost, etc. You should be able to set it up to image the system upon boot. That way, whatever the renters do, the system will be imaged, and all will be well.
  • If it's a Windows PC, I suggest using Symantec Norton Ghost [symantec.com]. They can do whatever they like to the computer, but when it reboots, it goes back to its original condition. It's perfect for applications like these.
    • Ok, here goes.
      Use ghost or a similar product? No, don't.
      A decent image is going to take the system 15 minutes to boot everytime. If it's sysprepped, it will take 30 minutes.
      If a person is doing work and the power blinks, there goes all of their work. Oh, of course you can tell them to use a floppy disk or USB key, but that's making to too complicated.

      Also, if you are using XP and you restore from a syspreped ghost, you will have to reactivate the system within 60 days or suffer the consequences, and you

  • Multiple options (Score:3, Informative)

    by notsoclever ( 748131 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:38PM (#9317513) Journal
    You could just provide the pipe and an 802.11 access point and have it up to the renters to just bring their own laptop or whatever. Then you also don't have to worry about the hardware getting messed up (since you could just lock the access point and modem up in the crawlspace or whatever).

    Or, you could do as another poster suggested and just make an install image for periodic recovery using Ghost.

    Or, you could just figure that any renters who *need* a computer will be able to provide for themselves.

  • No security. And Ghost the fucker. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Elwood P Dowd ( 16933 ) <judgmentalist@gmail.com> on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:39PM (#9317518) Journal
    Configure it with a largeish partition for ghost files. Install Windows on the other partition and configure it however much or little security you'd like. Enable the firewall. Install automated spyware & virus protection. Do windows update.

    Ghost the machine as it is, properly configured, to the ghost partition. Later, after they've fucked everything up, you can restore from the ghost file.

    Isn't that how you ran your labs?
    • Ghost the machine as it is, properly configured, to the ghost partition. Later, after they've fucked everything up, you can restore from the ghost file.

      From the article:
      One major difference between this computer and a lab computer is that I will not have access to the machine for the entire summer, while the house is being rented.
    • > Isn't that how you ran your labs?

      Ack, I should certainly home not!

      Sure, restoring a disk image occasionally might work okay for a single PC in
      a rental situation, but it would be a maintenance nightmare in a lab. With
      multiple PCs in the room and multiple people using each one per day (and on
      occasion multiple people per hour), you could end up hiring two or three
      full-time restore-monkeys just to reghost the suckers.

      No, for a lab situation you want diskless thin clients that boot off the
      network thin c

  • Why not just a guest account? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by beeplet ( 735701 ) <beeplet@gmail.com> on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:42PM (#9317551) Journal
    Maybe I'm missing something, but the obvious solution to me is just to create a guest accout without admin priviledges. Let the renters know when they move in that if they want to install any special programs (if they want to use the computer to play some game, for example) that they have to let you know at the beginning of the summer so you can install it. As long as it's clear in advance what they can and can't use the computer for I don't see a problem. Also, if you aren't going to be around to administer the computer make sure they know that - preferably in writing, since if they come with the expectation of being able to use the computer for work, and something goes wrong, they will be looking for someone to blame.

  • Buy a mac and follow these instructions: (Score:3, Insightful)

    by hackstraw ( 262471 ) * on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @02:46PM (#9317589)
    http://www.macosxlabs.org/presentations/other/Harv ard_SIG_Part_2.pdf

    You do what for a living?
  • If you're going to be stuck using a Windows box, use software like SiteKiosk (www.sitekiosk.com), which is designed to lock Windows boxes used in public places.
  • My prefered method of securing a computer in this situation would be a Boot ROM that quickly restores the system to a pristine state every time its rebooted. Look at some of the solutions offered by Rembo, such as BpBatch.

    Properly set up, the loader in the boot rom can validate the user-accessible partition against a reference copy on a hidden partition, then syncronize it rapidly in a manner similar to that of rsync. The renter has nearly unrestricted use of the system, but the second they reboot, its a c
  • By using all of these (including a BIOS scheduled powerup at 5am), you can have control over when you wish to wipe the main partition. You could schedule a weekly image dump, or whenever they called with a problem VNC in(the image dump and reboot shouldn't take more than an hour), and you could give them free reign over the system otherwise, so they could install their own games, or download all the spyware/virii they wish.

  • How the professionals do it. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Spudley ( 171066 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @03:00PM (#9317739) Homepage Journal
    An internet cafe I know achieves this very simply: Every night after they close, they just restore every PC to it's original state from a backup on a hidden partition.

    Takes them practically zero time or effort -- all they have to do is open the admin program, enter a password, and click 'Okay'. No disks or tapes to insert, and users can do anything the like to the machine during the day. (well... it might be awkward if they managed to delete the backup program, but I don't think that's happened yet.. and anyway, they keep proper backups too, just in case)

  • Let's ask the metaquestion (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pedantic bore ( 740196 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @03:01PM (#9317745)
    Who rents a beach house so that they can use the computer? When my family rents a beach house, spending time in front of a computer is the last thing on my mind.

    From your point of view, putting a computer in a beach house could be a headache anyway, for physical reasons. Everything in a rental property takes a beating. I'd just get a wireless router, hide it in a locked closet, and maybe put a few ethernet jacks where your guests can find them. Let them bring their laptops if they're geeky enough.

    You might also make them sign something saying that they're responsible for whatever gets downloaded during the time they're in the house. That way, if you have a guest who downloads something that attracts the wrong sort of attention, maybe they'll get in trouble instead of you.

    • Re:Let's ask the metaquestion (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Who rents a beach house so that they can use the computer? When my family rents a beach house, spending time in front of a computer is the last thing on my mind.

      To check the weather forecast, the tides, to figure out what that sandpiper-ish bird with a hooked bill is, to order new books from Amazon, to view pr0n when you can't get anywhere with the girls on the beach, to get a recipe for tom yam gai when you left your cookbooks at home...

      • Re:Let's ask the metaquestion (Score:5, Insightful)

        by pedantic bore ( 740196 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @05:06PM (#9319182)
        To check the weather forecast...
        radio

        the tides...
        paper, radio. Or just ask your neighbor with the boat.

        to figure out what that sandpiper-ish bird with a hooked bill is..
        It's a sandpiper. If you need more detail than that, go get a book about birds.

        to order new books from Amazon
        You're on vacation! Go to the book store! It's fun and you don't have to wait for delivery.

        to view pr0n when you can't get anywhere with the girls on the beach...
        Never a problem for me. My wife and I always bring home two girls, one for each of us. (Of course, it's the same two girls we brought to the beach, but that just makes it even better.)

        to get a recipe for tom yam gai when you left your cookbooks at home...
        Go to the book store. Call a friend. Recreate the recipe from memory.

        I guess different people have different ideas of what they like to do when they're on vacation. For me, it means getting away from the normal routine and not being such a geek for a few days. To each his own.

    • Re:Let's ask the metaquestion (Score:4, Insightful)

      by alwayslurking ( 555708 ) <jason.boissiere@gmail . c om> on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @04:07PM (#9318441)
      When preparing a property in Tobago, between the beach and the golf course on a tropical paradise, for holiday rentals, a friend was required by the letting agents to supply a television for each bedroom and the lounge. Four rooms, four separate televisions. Apparently American holidaymakers can't do without. After that blow to my faith in humanity, one computer doesn't sound so bad.

    • Re:Let's ask the metaquestion (Score:4, Interesting)

      by warpSpeed ( 67927 ) <slashdot@fredcom.com> on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @04:15PM (#9318499) Homepage Journal
      Who rents a beach house so that they can use the computer? When my family rents a beach house, spending time in front of a computer is the last thing on my mind

      I Do.

      I run my own buisness, so I never really get a vacation from email. Also the whole family loves going to the beach, except me. What can I do? I bring my laptop and tons of books magazines, etc. In the past I have used dialup while at the beach (oh the horrors!). DSL access in the beach house would simply be "heaven". Wireless access would be a real bonus (but I can bring my own WAP) I can hang out during the day reading and responding to email and drinking beer.

      Now that is a vacation.

    • So you want to get away from the rat race of modern life when on vacation? Rent a vacation house without electricity. Without bug screens. Without running water. Hell, camp. Without any plastic or synthetic gear. Go back to the simple life. And don't forget to leave your watch at home.

      What? You actually want some of those modern impositions? Which ones? .... NO, you are wrong, you don't want those items, you want the ones I say you want, because *I* know what is a correct vacation.

      Oh, wait, I ta
      • I am not the one saying how you should spend your vacation, you are the one saying how others should spend their vacations.

        I merely offer my advice, as a reknowned expert on such matters. You are free to ignore it. Slashdot postings impose no binding obligations; just because you read my words does not mean that you are required or even expected to agree.

        If you really know of a good French jazz station, please post its frequency (and URL).

  • What kind of admin ARE you.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by E_elven ( 600520 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @03:02PM (#9317756) Journal
    What do you mean you 'won't have access' to it for the summer. Just use one of the remote desktop systems if it's a Windows box or -better yet- if you set it up as a Linux box you can just SSH into it. If the dynamic IP is an issue, register a free dynamic hostname at (for example) dyndns.org and install the IP auto-updater. That way you can just ssh to 'beach-house.dyndns.org'.

    As others have suggested, create limited user accounts. Make sure they've got all they need for web surfing, movie watching, music and so on, and lock everything else down, and just leave them a limited-space directory to save stuff into. If you're afraid they may need more software, just create a crap e-mail account for 'support requests' and use the remote desktop/ssh with admin privileges to install new software if you deem it to be ok.
    • Hmm, this gives me an idea, though I am not sure if the non-geeks of the world would find this so neat.
      If you were going to use dyndns.org (they are great, I use 'em and recommend them to everyone), or a similar service for remote admin anyway, what about enabling apache, and hacking up a simple frontend to gphoto2 or something with a php site, or even just a simple frontend to ftp back to a server you controll, so that visiters can effortlessly create a web blog of their vacation with photos for all their
  • One copy of deep freeze will set you back $25. What it does, is basically gives you 1 gig of "Thawspace" and "Freeze" the rest of the system. When frozen, you reboot the system and everything is restored to the original configuration (last time it was frozen.
    You can then basically map your thawspace to My Documents, and give the tenants a place to store their downloads. The only drawback I have seen is signficant slowdown on older machines.
  • The question is what will they really be using it for? I don't see anything wrong with providing "just the basics" on a system that's pretty locked down..

    For example, you should be able to install Windows XP Pro and create a user acocunt with very limited rights. Give them access to Internet Explorer, Word (or AbiWord), and some other basics. Other than that, keep pretty much everything else locked down.

    Also, leverage XP's Remote Desktop so you can connect as Administrator to tweak or fix things.

    No, they

  • Forget the computer... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Hank Reardon ( 534417 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @03:09PM (#9317819) Homepage Journal

    Don't bother putting a computer up. Get a decent, cheap 802.11g wireless router, and perhaps hook up a couple of jacks for hardwire LAN access.

    If somebody wants a computer on their vacation, let them bring their own.

  • Recovery methods... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    In a really hostile environment, focus on recovery not limitations. People will spend time on working around what you do...so don't put up barriers.

    One simple method I can think of uses two hard disks;

    Boot disk with backup image (read-only)

    Basic OS with a few apps (no login)

    That way, the cleaning crew or the management company can repair the computer after the renters leave by selecting "Wipe clean and restore computer".

    The hard part (for you): Check the pinouts on the IDE cable to the read-only d

  • ...a can of worms best left unopened.

    Renter starts computer. Renter logs onto Kazaa. Renter shares thousands of files off his/her iPod. RIAA traces back the IP. You get sued/extorted by the RIAA.

    Just one of far too many potentially nasty scenarios. A quick mental benefit/risk analysis says, to me at least, it just isn't worth it.

  • You're on vacation (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @03:25PM (#9317979)
    1. Remove the harddrive
    2. Put the following BASIC program on a boot floppy

    10 PRINT "TURN OFF THE COMPUTER AND GO OUTSIDE YOU LAZY SHIT"
    20 GOTO 10

  • This may be more work than you want.... (Score:3, Informative)

    by g1zmo ( 315166 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @03:28PM (#9318016) Homepage
    ....but how about leaving an ssh server running and remotely add a new user every time it's rented and delete that user when they're done. With a nicely set up /etc/skel it should pretty seamless.
  • 1. Ghosting drives and locking down user accounts are okay ideas.

    2. Only providing net access is a much, much better idea. People who want a computer at the lake will probably have their own machine, and will just want access.

    Provide cable/DSL and wireless or wall jacks, and instructions for configuring a PC/Mac to use the network. Physically lock the network equipment (router/switch/firewall) up.

    3. Have the owner include a lease clause about network access rules and responsibilities. You're in essense
  • Get one of those net appliances with small solid state storage, and the ability to lock down the configuration with a password, then bold the whole thing to the wall.

    Since you won't have access to it for the summer, this is really the only way to guarantee people can't break it. Also, lessen the chance some jerk will give you an imprompty 'downgrade'.

  • Environmental concerns (Score:3, Interesting)

    by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @04:13PM (#9318487)
    UPS. Depending on where this is, beach houses suffer from enough storms and power outages to make this a necessity.
    Sand and water. This is at the beach. Little Jimmy will start pecking away with sandy fingers. A weatherproof keyboard, at the very least. Sealed cabinet for the case, maybe.

    Personally, I'd just give them access, and not the actual PC.

  • WebTV (Score:4, Interesting)

    by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @04:15PM (#9318506)
    Can't use it for much, but hey...at least they can't screw anything up with it.

  • I've rented a lot of beach houses... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Otto ( 17870 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @04:32PM (#9318737) Homepage Journal
    ... and never did they have a computer in them. If I wanted a computer, I brought my laptop.

    Anybody really wanting to access the internet on their beach vacation has the equipment to do so anyway. Seriously, laptops are common among business travellers, and all netheads have them or something like them.

    If you want to advertise high speed internet access, few people will be expecting there to be an actual computer there. An ethernet jack hooked to a cable modem (out of sight.. like in a closet or wall or other locked area) is good enough. If you want to provide wireless, drop an access point back there hooked to the cable modem as well. Beyond that, I wouldn't put in one single bit of equipment. No computer, no monitor, nothing. Maybe a power protector on the cable modem/access point, but that's it.

    Leave an instruction sheet on how to hook up their ethernet or 802.11b wireless (use a 802.11b access point, as the cable modem is slower than 11 mbits and b is cheaper/more compatible) and wash your hands of it. Nobody expects an entire configured system to be there, realistically. If you go to a nice hotel with connectivity, you don't get a computer in the room, you get a place to hook up your computer and that's it. That's expected. Leaving a whole system there just invites people to rewire the thing to hook up *their* system.
    • If your cable modem company or other ISP does "lock in", where they give out addresses via DHCP by taking your MAC Address and putting it into their system, then you'll need to add a cable/DSL router into the picture. Get one with the built in 802.11b wireless, like many of the Linksys models. This way, the cable company sees only the router, your guests get their address via DHCP from the router and don't have to call you when it fails to work.

      You can easily test if your high speed ISP does lock in.. Have
    • Also - connect the router/WAP to an electronic time switch that will cycle the power at say 3am. Most of the consumer routers/WAPs need rebooting every so often, usually because of nasty peer-peer software.
  • We're forgetting the fact that the computer may make the house a lot more markeatable. I would have a main computer with a dummy client in the kitchen. Maybe a smallish LCD screen, a keyboard, and mouse. Make it obvious that this is for checking email, etc. Get remote access to the main computer so you can create accounts for each new renter ("The Johnsons"). Keep backups, maybe in a partition. Casual users can use the small PC for email, news, weather (Important for a beach house!). Power users can bring i
  • have broadband access, make sure it's locked down with a firewall, but open up ports for VNC, and configure it to work with SSH. Then use something like DYNDNS.org and give it a name my mycottage.homeip.net so you always have access to it. Simple.
  • Put the hard drive in a removable IDE enclosure. Take it with you. Leave a Knoppix CDROM in the computer. Provide a DSL/Cable router with DHCP. An 802.11[abg] access point would also be a plus.

  • Ghost the disk between renters.

    Get a simple firewall that blocks ports both ways; restrict what can come and go. Use your judgement, try to allow games and anything that might be helpful if some poor worker has a business emergency on vacation, but not much else.

  • Probably the easiest way... (Score:3, Informative)

    by chrispyman ( 710460 ) on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @08:05PM (#9320852)
    If it's a Windows machine, I'd suggest putting DeepFreeze on it. It basically resets the computer back to its original state whenever you reboot the box. I've used this on many student workstations and it works like a charm. Unfortunately it won't stop some smartypants from booting off a cd and installing Linux or something like that ;-)
  • Just install Xandros 2.0, give them user access and let them have at it. It is as easy to use as Windows XP and I doubt they can break it.
  • If a person has unfettered physical access to a machine there is NO security. I would suggest locking down the computer just as you would in a lab, but that alone is not enough. You would need to re-image the machine on a regular basis. It also couldn't hurt to physically lock the case shut.

    It would be a lot less trouble to just offer a ethernet and WiFi hookup and let guests use their own laptop.
  • use Deep Freeze on the comp. setup a schedules to reboot every morning and to defrag in the background. have a remote access like remote admin or tightvnc to fix or update the computer.
  • For about 50 quid (dont know in dollars, but reckon these should be available over there) you can get a little card that goes in the PCI slot.


    It can be set up to reload the partition every reboot, every day, or on scheduled times. It has a "flash" version that saves up to 1G of changes to the OS/Partition or you can just have a complete backup on the same drive that it copies over.


    The ones ive used are:
    http://www.lodestar.co.uk/ [lodestar.co.uk].

    Site looks a bit outdated, but they work fine. I have a couple of t
  • A good friend of mine has a nice beach rental in N.C. - If you have a nice house with a nice deposit and a healthy rental fee, people take care of things fairly well.

    Another aspect is that most improvements increase the rental value. I helped them finish an addition to the kitchen which made it possible for 8 people to eat dinner at the same table. Rental fees are higher, and the renters are HAPPIER!

    I just don't get people who insist that since THEY don't want a computer on vacation, NOBODY SHOULD BE ALL
  • install linux

    lock it down

    give each resident their own user account so activities can be traced.

    mount /home with noexec

    use one of those net anomynisers (a proxy hosted somewhere else, so if they do anything bad, you wont get done for it.

    install gnome or KDE and give them nice desktop icons so its not too different from windows (like "check email" for whatever mail app you choose, etc)
  • And make sure the deposit is enough to cover whatever a RIAA/MPAA lawsuit cost you.

    And hope they don't do anything worse..

  • Just provide a live ethernet port. Let your guests hook up their laptops.
  • If they want to have a PC at the beach, odds are they have their own laptop. Just get a pipe into the place (cable/DSL), put in a hub/access point (insert Your Prefered Vendor here - Linksys, Netgear, SMC, etc.), configure it fairly tight, wire up a coupla wall jacks and leave instructions. Given it's a beach house in summer, put a good surge protector on it; the units sold for DSS users will protect both power, phone and coax lines. The folks suggesting a commercial account for liability protection are
  • Boot the system off of a write protected CF card version of Knoppix, and provide a USB key for configuration and storage which the guest can keep afterwards (incorporate the cost in the price of the rental).
    The added benefit is that each member of party renting the house can get their own key and have their own configuration and files.
  • Unless you know the users well you can open yourself to a world of hurt. The Internet is wide open to people downloading and uploading things. You don't want to waste your life explaining it wasn't you

    You can spend quite a lot of time creating legal paperwork to cover your ass beforehand but unless you are/will be an ISP/hotel it's not really worth it businesswise.

  • Here's what I would do.

    Have a firwall/gateway PC in a locked cupboard with a UPS.
    Have RJ45 sockets throughout the house for tenants to plug their own laptops into.

    You could make a diskless (boot-from-LAN) LTSP client available for tenants who don't bring their own computer. Once they get past the xdm(or kdm or gdm) login screen (guest login username and password supplied when they pick up the keys for the house) they will get a customised desktop with an icon labeled "Surf the web" - anyone who has used a

  • Well, here's the thing:

    Knoppix and other CD boot distro's basically take a long time to boot. If for some reason the CD fouls due to condensation or something else, the system just won't boot.

    The people will also not be able to download PDF files/etc if they are bigger than the temp space available from memory.

    With a boot CD, you are basically going to want/need more ram and a fast CD drive to make it bearable.

    The same issues of boot times and downloadables applies to Ghost/disk state keepers. If people

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