Question : Problem: Cygwin and OpenSSH on SBS 2003

Any opinions about this?  I am concerned that installing and running cygwin and sshd could compromise the security and operation of my server.  I know that OpenSSH is secure and the best communication protocol but how does it interact with windows?  I used in on my XP desktop for quite some time in the past.  Its amazing that this protocol isn't built into windows natively, how can they still be offering unsecured FTP support.

I have the VPN configured but the performance is terrible, I think SFTP is the best route for transferring files.  Any ideas?

Answer : Problem: Cygwin and OpenSSH on SBS 2003

What kinds of files are you wanting to transfer... because SBS has plenty of secure, encrypted methods of file transfer that don't use FTP.  

If performance is terrible with a VPN, then I'd wonder if you have things configured properly.

SBS also has SharePoint Services automatically configured that you can access either through Remote Web Workplace (http://sbsurl.com/rww for details on rww) or directly at https://server.yourdomain.com:444.  Document Libraries are preconfigured on the companyweb site.

If you have Office 2007 Professional, it includes Office Groove 2007 which will provide you with terrific file sharing abilities.  If you don't have that, then you can use the free Windows Live version www.foldershare.com which also works with Macs.

So... really Microsoft isn't offering unsecured FTP support.  FTP is not enabled by default on SBS.  The protocol will always exist though in order to support legacy situations.  That doesn't mean at all that you have to use it.

Jeff
TechSoEasy