A Rossi wrote:
> Hi,
> I've been hired by a client to perform a number of network services
> for him, most of which are completely unrelated to my topic.
> Now, onto my topic:
> He asked me if I could partition all of his workstation computers
> (running windows XP Professional SP2) with a windows partition, and a
> hidden partition which occupies most of the disk, that is accessible
> over the network to OpenBSD (actually he asked for FreeBSD, but I will
> change his mind...) to back up his server. He doesn't want his
> employees to know about it or to be able to interact with this "hidden
> partition" in any way. I told him that it is not possible, because
> windows controls the hardware (being the OS on the system) and the
> only way it would work was if he had *BSD on the system. But, because
> he is paying me, I thought I should give him the benefit of the doubt,
> and ask the pros in this area.
> So, is it possible for OpenBSD to access a bunch of "hidden" (I put it
> into quotes because it could be any non-windows compatible partition,
> because it won't show it then) partitions on networked workgroup
> computers and treat them like one big disk for backup?
>
> My apologies for such a long post. I am new to OpenBSD, but I like
> what I see.
> Thanks,
> A Rossi
I'm certainly no guru, but I can tell you this: If the OS in control of
the system does not understand the file system of the partition, then no
other system will be able to access it in any meaningful way. That
said, I think you could create a C partition, and house the user's
Windows installation and applications on it. Then create a second D
partition, and lock the view/use rights for that partition to
administrator accounts only. Share that partition with the usual
Windows file and printer sharing, then access it through SAMBA with
administrator credentials.
