How do I gracefully exit/shutdown a "remote" machine?

[Henry Spencer]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005, William Park wrote:
> > Crypto authentication -- of both machines and users -- is definitely
> > the way to go if you're going to allow direct root login, and there is
> > much to be said for it in general.
> 
> This issue is my pet peeve... I do password access only...
> Main reason is that computers get stolen.
> How would you counter this point?  If you have a machine in Waterloo,
> and your Toronto workstation is stolen.  No one in Waterloo knows you,
> and your car is in garage for a week.  What do you do?

Grab a spare machine off the shelf -- that crufty old K6-233 that isn't
fast enough for hardly anything real any more :-) makes a dandy emergency
spare -- or else make quick foray down to College St. for hardware.  Put
Linux up on it.  Get key files off **BACKUP** tape or disk (fetch offsite
backup if necessary) or from **BACKUP** server.  Back in business. 

(There's nothing like coming around the corner and finding a battalion
of fire engines around the building where you work -- or rather, its
remains -- to make you a believer in offsite backups.)

It's the same situation, for all practical purposes, as having your
Toronto workstation's disk drop dead.  These things happen.  Either you
prepare for the possibility or you don't. 

                                                          Henry Spencer
                                                       henry-lqW1N6Cllo0sV2N9l4h3zg at public.gmane.org

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