Do any of the [Xe|Li]node boxes have Intel/AMD/VIA HW Random Number Generator on em? And if so, could that option get compiled into the kernel?

That would be nice...

But not installed in all linodes.

It would be great if Linode.com could run a random number generator service, perhaps a small special Linode with a Hardware Random Number Generator on site, in your server vault generating a large pool of random bits, which Linodes could draw off of with SSH inside the building...

...next most secure thing to having your own HRNG in the Linode, right?

They do not, however -- starting with 2.6.12, UML has a feature to get randomness from the host. Check here:

http://www.linode.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=7949#7949

-Chris

If you are encrypting, you might be interested in:

http://www.newscientistspace.com/articl ... pace_rss20

The researchers believe quasars could make an ideal cryptographic tool because the strength and frequency of the radio pulses they emit is impossible to predict. "Quasar-based cryptography is based on a physical fact that such a space signal is random and has a very broad frequency spectrum"

Cancel that order for a hardware RNG - buy a radio telescope instead.

_________________
/ Peter

I tried this with 2.6.15-linode16, but rngd aborts with:

can't open /dev/hwrandom: No such file or directory

Do I need to create /dev/hwrandom myself?