Can Ruby On Rails Be Used Without SSH?

[azoundria]

Hi Everyone,

First off, I'm not a Ruby On Rails user. I know it's similar to Python, and I've programmed with Python but not used it for web development. I use PHP extensively, for absolutely everything.

In an effort to enable further growth for our clients, we branched out to offer Ruby on Rails. It's currently installed on the cPanel of a couple of our servers, and I know that's working since two independant companies have verified it as such.

However, recently I have been getting requests from a number of our clients that they need SSH access in order to properly use Ruby on Rails. As I'm sure you all know, providing SSH access is a security risk to the server, and although I trust most of these clients, I would not want to take these risks.

Essentially, I'm at a loss for what to tell these people, and I am seeing threads with similar questions unanswered around the internet when I search Google. Is there any hosts out here who offer Ruby on Rails, and not SSH, and have clients successfully using the software?

Thanks for your time.

 

[SiberForum]

However, recently I have been getting requests from a number of our clients that they need SSH access in order to properly use Ruby on Rails. As I'm sure you all know, providing SSH access is a security risk to the server, and although I trust most of these clients, I would not want to take these risks.

I wonder what kind of the risks you are talking about?

 

[azoundria]

Hi SiberForum,

For the most part I've been taking the word of most people I've talked to that SSH is a security risk, although it could well be a big myth.

I did a Google search, and found these at least:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=1851668418b8bff5cb7e636fbd58a8d5
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache...f+ssh+security+risks&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
http://www.linuxtoday.com/security/2006082700526OSHLNT

I also found these, stating solutions to security, but they seem to be about only external vulnerabilities of strangers getting into SSH, not damage that can be done by someone who already has SSH access to your server:
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=602977
http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/61061
http://dmiessler.com/blog/security-and-obscurity-does-changing-your-ssh-port-lower-your-risk

So really then, is it no risk to allow anyone to have a certain level of SSH access to your server, and there is nothing you know of they could do with that which would not compromise it?

I'm all for enabling features, but I obviously do not want a few hundred users to lose their data because of a security hole in an enabled feature.