Mosh: Modernizing SSH With IP Roaming, Instant Local Echo 158
An anonymous reader writes "Launched in 1995, SSH quickly became the king of network login tools, supplanting the old insecure mainstays TELNET and RLOGIN. But 17 years later, a group of MIT hackers have come out with "mosh", which claims to modernize the most annoying parts of SSH. Mosh keeps its connection alive when clients roam among WiFi networks or switch to 3G, and gives instant feedback on typing (and deleting). No more annoying network lag on typing, the MIT boffins say, citing Bufferbloat, which has been increasing latencies."
The folks involved have a pre-press research paper with the gritty details (to be presented at USENIX later this year). Mosh itself is not particularly exciting; the new State Synchronization Protocol it is based upon might be: "This is accomplished using a new protocol called the State Synchronization Protocol, for which Mosh is the first application. SSP runs over UDP, synchronizing the state of any object from one host to another. Datagrams are encrypted and authenticated using AES-128 in OCB mode. While SSP takes care of the networking protocol, it is the implementation of the object being synchronized that defines the ultimate semantics of the protocol."
Obsolete within five years (Score:3, Interesting)
While neat for those who are currently in areas with spotty wireless coverage it is a neat idea but for most users I don't think it's that much of an issue, even at the moment.
Fast forward five years and I just don't see this software being all that useful. Sure, there's always gonna be that handful of people who will scream that this is extremely useful because they're always hopping between wifi hotspots but most users are using 3G/4G when they're on the move and coverage for those is already "good enough" in most civilized places and steadily improving. I've taken 5+ hour train trips several times and only had ssh connections drop once or twice on those trips (due to spotty coverage in what would quality as the middle of nowhere in northern Sweden).
This is like "solving" the IPv4 address exhaustion problem with NAT, it's a neat workaround but doesn't actually solve the problem.
OCB Mode is Toxic. (Score:5, Interesting)
We tried to put OCB mode in 802.11i. So IBM sent a guy to explain the 'licensing terms' for their patents on OCB mode. The next vote in 802.11i after that presentation was to replace OCB mode with CCM.
Until the patents expire or are freely licensed, OCB mode should be considered off limits for free and open projects.
Other improvements ? (Score:5, Interesting)
IP roaming looks nice & ought to be secure with the right steps (no reply from old IP:port, correct cryto negotiation with new IP:port).
But LOCAL ECHO is a big problem -- applications have to be aware of it. On CLI, many keystrokes are commands, not text to be entered. On vi in command-mode, G goes to the last line.
Personally, a bigger thing is traffic reduction, particularly keystoke combining. Nagel's algorithm is a start, but I've modded ssh to delay and buffer likely-text keystrokes for a short time (400ms) while letting likely commands through immediately to retain responsiveness. The delays aren't irksome, and I reduce outbound traffic by ~80%.
Re:First they invented telnet, which had... (Score:5, Interesting)
.. a negotiable LOCAL_ECHO mode. Then they invented ssh, and left away that LOCAL_ECHO and linebuffered flags, considered to be archaic. And 15 years later, LOCAL_ECHO is back in mosh!
Right. Breaking local echo in Telnet was a Berkeley misfeature. It was in 3COM's UNET, which predated Berkley networking in UNIX. (Berkeley did not introduce networking in UNIX. Theirs was the third or fourth implementation, after ones from BBN, 3COM, and Phil Karn.) With UNET, circa 1983, Telnet had local echo until you used something like VI or the RAND full screen editor, at which point the server noticed the stty call which switched to "raw mode" and switched to remote echo.
Seamless transition from local echo to remote echo is even older. It was in Tymnet [rogerdmoore.ca], which used markers called a "red ball" and a "green ball" to do the switch seamlessly.
Re:Missed from summary (Score:4, Interesting)
i can't see any idle traffic ... being specified
I looked into MOSH in detail a little while ago and the keepalive packet is every 3 seconds or 3 packets per second can't remember which.
It was often enough to make me pause... that's a lot of traffic if you're metered and paying by the K and/or powered by battery...