Scanning the Potential

The last section listed a number of tasks that a remote administratable system should be able to perform, but this is definitely not the full suite of offerings a GNU/Linux system will have in the network area. The degree of autonomy of an embedded system can be pushed up to that of a server system - allowing for dial-in support for proprietary protocols to fit into a non-unix environment smoothly. NFS, the network filesystem, can not only be incorporated as a client in an embedded system, but also as a server, allowing for a central server or administration system to mount the embedded system for monitoring and upgrade purposes. This way giving virtually unlimited access to an embedded system over the network. At the same time all of these services can be provided in a secure manner by running them over VPN's or encrypted lines. This capability of 'stacking' services is one of the strengths of GNU/Linux networking - and again, you don't need to rely on a specialized software package, you can rely on well-tested and widely deployed setups that will give you a maximum of security.