[HN Gopher] Show HN: OpenZiti Python SDK
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       Show HN: OpenZiti Python SDK
        
       Author : ekoby
       Score  : 37 points
       Date   : 2022-09-21 12:08 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (openziti.io)
 (TXT) w3m dump (openziti.io)
        
       | linsomniac wrote:
       | This is very cool, Python is my primary programming language and
       | OpenZiti is something that looks promising for communication
       | between public endpoints (like a Lambda receiver for Slack
       | messages) and private infrastructure (like triggering a cron job
       | to run).
        
         | ekoby wrote:
         | funny you should mention this, here is another post covering
         | exactly that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32924212
        
           | linsomniac wrote:
           | Thanks for that pointer, didn't see that.
        
       | ekoby wrote:
       | I am happy to introduce OpenZiti Python SDK.
       | 
       | It allows you to:
       | 
       | * embed zero trust secure networking right into your Python
       | application
       | 
       | * run your Python services without any open network ports.
       | 
       | Powered by: https://github.com/openziti/ziti
        
         | manfre wrote:
         | How does Ziti compare to something like nats (https://nats.io)?
        
           | ekoby wrote:
           | I am not deeply familiar with nats.io, so I could be wrong in
           | my comparisons.
           | 
           | OpenZiti is a connection-oriented overlay network vs NATS a
           | messaging system.
           | 
           | OpenZiti SDKs are more easily embeddable in existing
           | applications as it does not require changes in networking
           | semantics.
        
             | PLG88 wrote:
             | FWI, the OpenZiti project 'integrated' their Go SDK into
             | NATS last year - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V_HlDZy6M
             | 8&ab_channel=OpenZ....
             | 
             | I say 'integrated' as it was a quick and dirty integration
             | rather than anywhere near production ready.
        
         | voidfunc wrote:
         | Congrats on the release!
         | 
         | - Your former Orion pal, P :)
        
       | dec0dedab0de wrote:
       | Am I the only one who is having trouble understanding what this
       | is doing, and why I would want to use it? Maybe I should have had
       | that cup of coffee earlier.
        
         | ekoby wrote:
         | In the simplest terms, it's an application embedded VPN (on
         | both client and server)
         | 
         | The SDK allows you to integrate OpenZiti directly into your
         | applications so that it can access network resources securely
         | from anywhere in the world. This is based on strong identity so
         | that the overlay cannot be access by untrusted endpoints. This
         | is ensuring your application has zero trust in the network,
         | WAN, LAN and even host OS - in fact, your app does not even
         | need to know the IP and port to communicate with on the
         | underlying host.
         | 
         | Comparing to traditional VPNs this solution is a lot more
         | secure -- instead giving you access to internal network,
         | OpenZiti gives you access to specific service endpoints.
        
           | e12e wrote:
           | Thank you. It was entirely opaque for me from the "about"
           | page what it allowed me to have "zero trust" in.
           | 
           | Also what the threat model is, and how ziti solves it.
           | 
           | I assume it does little to thwart traffic analysis?
           | 
           | Does it suffer from tcp-over-tcp problems?
           | 
           | Would be fair to say it's similar to a private Tor network
           | with hidden services - but without anonymity and (probably
           | much) higher throughput?
        
             | ekoby wrote:
             | > Also what the threat model is, and how ziti solves it.
             | 
             | Your service (anything that accepts incoming connections)
             | is never exposed to open internet. any incoming connections
             | are guaranteed to be from authenticated and authorized
             | clients.
             | 
             | > I assume it does little to thwart traffic analysis?
             | 
             | It does -- the traffic is routed throw OpenZiti fabric.
             | 
             | > Does it suffer from tcp-over-tcp problems?
             | 
             | OpenZiti is not a VPN and it does not forward network
             | packets. In application embedded cases payload is end-to-
             | end encrypted and forwarded on overlay network.
             | 
             | > Would be fair to say it's similar to a private Tor
             | network with hidden services - but without anonymity and
             | (probably much) higher throughput?
             | 
             | I believe that is a fair comparison, except anonymity is
             | replaced with strong identity support to allow
             | configuration of authorization policies.
        
               | e12e wrote:
               | Thank you!
               | 
               | > OpenZiti is not a VPN and it does not forward network
               | packets. In application embedded cases payload is end-to-
               | end encrypted and forwarded on overlay network.
               | 
               | Ok, but messages/RPC calls go over the network - can i
               | return a 1gb video file/stream/fragment - or send real-
               | time audio - or is it limited to more of a "secure RPC"?
        
               | ekoby wrote:
               | Absolutely, from your application's view it is just a
               | socket that can live and be used to send/receive data
               | indefinitely
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | e12e wrote:
               | I more meant: what is the network transport like - does
               | it offer tcp-like guarantees and re-submissions, along
               | with poor suitability for real-time streams? How does it
               | cross firewalls (that increasingly filter by protocol)?
        
               | ekoby wrote:
               | at this time OpenZiti connection are guaranteed-delivery
               | (like TCP). We are evaluating offering lossy connections
               | in the future.
               | 
               | At the edges connection are always outbound and are seen
               | as mTLS to the firewalls. the application payloads are
               | end-to-end encrypted (using libsodium) an d transferred
               | inside mTLS channels
        
         | resoluteteeth wrote:
         | It looks like it's like tailscale/zerotier but at the
         | individual app level rather than the device level.
        
         | billconan wrote:
         | is it app embedded VPN?
        
       | __MatrixMan__ wrote:
       | How does this compare with libp2p? Every time I try to use it I
       | get the feeling that the python support was abandoned half-way,
       | maybe OpenZiti would be better.
        
         | ekoby wrote:
         | there are significant differences from libp2p:
         | 
         | * strong identity support: authenticate before connect
         | 
         | * it is service oriented vs point-to-point
         | 
         | We would love for you to try OpenZiti it give us feedback :)
        
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       (page generated 2022-09-21 23:02 UTC)