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Possible issues with two network cards in one PC

  • 22-01-2009 11:02am
    #1
    djd80
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 440 ✭✭


    Hi All

    We have a PC here in work which is connected to a system which monitors the air conditiong etc.

    It is connected to a switch with an IP of 192.168.0.10 and there are various other sensors/mechanical equipment connected back to the same switch which feed information to the PC which then has an app running to monitor the system.

    We want to be able to Remote Desktop or VNC to this machine and are thinking about putting a second network card into the PC and patching it to our own switch and giving it an IP on our network therefore allowing us to remote control it.

    Are there any security issues I should be wary of?

    The PC has no connection to the outside world but would I be allowing traffic from the sensors etc onto our network by doing this?


Comments

  • #2
    liamo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,193 ✭✭✭liamo


    dar_d wrote: »
    Are there any security issues I should be wary of?
    I suppose it depends on how trustworthy your network is. And how trustworthy your users are. And how secure or otherwise the application on the PC is.
    You're going from (what seems like) a situation where someone has to have physical access to the PC to operate it, to a situation where anyone on your network can get at it.
    Do you need to record who did what on the PC?
    What are the implications of someone making a mess of things on the PC? Can they stop your air con?
    dar_d wrote: »
    The PC has no connection to the outside world but would I be allowing traffic from the sensors etc onto our network by doing this?
    At a guess, I'd say no.
    It depends on how the information from the sensors is sent to the PC.
    Is the info broadcast? (unlikely)
    Does the PC app retrieve the info from the sensors? (Probably)
    These are questions you will have to answer.

    Another possibility is to build a router with an old PC, a couple of network cards and a Linux distro (some are pre-built for just this purpose and need very little tweaking).
    Then you don't even have to open up the PC to add a network card.
    This may not suit you but it's something to consider.

    Regards,

    Liam


  • #3
    djd80
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 440 ✭✭djd80


    liamo wrote: »
    I suppose it depends on how trustworthy your network is. And how trustworthy your users are. And how secure or otherwise the application on the PC is.
    You're going from (what seems like) a situation where someone has to have physical access to the PC to operate it, to a situation where anyone on your network can get at it.
    Do you need to record who did what on the PC?
    What are the implications of someone making a mess of things on the PC? Can they stop your air con?

    Well trustworthy in so much as only one user will have the connectin details and the username and password to log on so I dont really think thats a problem really.
    liamo wrote: »
    At a guess, I'd say no.
    It depends on how the information from the sensors is sent to the PC.
    Is the info broadcast? (unlikely)
    Does the PC app retrieve the info from the sensors? (Probably)
    These are questions you will have to answer.

    Another possibility is to build a router with an old PC, a couple of network cards and a Linux distro (some are pre-built for just this purpose and need very little tweaking).
    Then you don't even have to open up the PC to add a network card.
    This may not suit you but it's something to consider.

    No they cannot stop the aircon, but then again they are the aircon engineers so they can fix it if they do!

    Yeah the PC retrieves the info from the sensors

    I dont really want to go down the road of routers etc if a simple second card will do what er want...

    Thanks for the help


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