Another box??? Opinions...

Hey all--


I've taken the time since getting my new computer awhile ago to fully learn the OS (Win. XP) and manipulate it and customize it to my appeal. Yes, I've pulled off many hacks that most users don't even know that you can do and now I think I'm ready to start expanding on the route of network vunerability assesment and maybe even figuring out a few of my own. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm a total newbie to the idea of networking and the understanding of how it works, I'd just like to pull off a few hacks of my own to test my skills...

Which brings me to my question, should I get another computer and connect it to my computer to test what I've learned in a productive and safe way??? Or is there another alternative that I don't know about??? If I should get another box, what would you recommend as far as OS, type of connection, etc... The people I've spoken to say that it doesn't even matter what kind of computer you get it could be a POS and all... But I'm leaving the real question to you guys cause I know there are people here that know a lot more :) .

So what do you think???

Any input is, as always, greatly appreciated!

-- Peace :cool:

In the past I have always found it easier to have two boxes, one as the master (if you like) and the other which you can experiment on. If you have access to Ghost or a program simalar it makes rebuilding the experimental one much faster, and you can always return it to a base line build.

My two cents worth

Golam

Perhaps before taking a big step like buying another computer you may want to try out some OS flavours first.

Download vmware or virtual pc.
These tools will give you access to another os while running XP.
They are quit memory hogs though.

To obtain a linux distribution you could visit linuxiso.org.
To obtain a MS product go to that second hand shop in your town.

If you want really want a new box I suggest you buid it from scratch yourself.
Install the OS you are the most comfortable with and enjoy !

This way you will have a box you can expiriment with and one to work with.

if a second box is finacialy an option i would most definately say go for it. an alternative would maybe www.hackerslab.org I havent realy messed with it to much but from what i understand it might be worth your time to check out. just be sure you have permision to attempt to gain acsess to their machine.

Go with the second computer if your just using it to hacking into it you can cut a lot of corners like sound cards and CD-burners. You might want to consider buying an older computer out of the classifieds. Minimum requirements for windows 2000 server are Pentium 2 200mhz 128megs of ram and a 2 gig hard drive although you might die of old age before it boots.

Yes, you should definitely have a second box. This will allow you to experiment without risking your main box. Install multiple operating systems on it if you like. Install more than one instance of each if necessary, multi-booting it as desired.

If you don't already have one, get a LAN so that your two (or more) machines can communicate over a private network.

Ideally the second box should not be *too* slow or old. As long as you don't want to run winXP on it, 64Mb will do. Some distro of Linux will install on pretty much anything, but you really need 64mb for Linux to be useful (with X anyway). 64mb is also the minimum for win2k.

I have installed Windows NT on a 32mb machine, it isn't quick, but does let me do security testing on it.

I'd recommend purchasing the second computer. You can use it not only to test other operating systems, but it can be used for you to get networking experience. If you plan to learn anything about computer security, your gonna need to know about network security. Plus, it'll be nice to have one computer for cracking passwords or encoding dvd's while you use the other whatever it is that you do.


--PuRe