Help me understand SSL vs SSH, OpenSSH, MacFUSE, etc.?

[john-o]

I'm trying to get a better understanding of the whole Secure Sockets world. I've read that you can use these tools to create much more secure connections for using open wireless networks (internet cafes, etc.), and to securely and directly connect to other computers over the internet (to your home or work computer, for instance).

If you're conversant in all of this, could you try and give me a concise explanation of how it all works, and what tools do what? It's not that I want anyone to do my research for me, it's that I really don't know where to start, and don't want to waste time just trying to figure out where to start... The problem is (as in a couple of the places linked below), I don't know enough to understand what a lot of the various web sites are telling me; their "explanations" assume an underlying knowledge that I just don't have...

Links:

A recent hint on Mac OS X Hints.com regarding MacFUSE:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?s...4180753526

Direct link to MacFusion page (GUI for MacFUSE):
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/08/...FusionWeb/

Gideon Softworks' "Secure Shell Helper":
http://www.gideonsoftworks.com/sshhelper.html

Another more recent Mac OS X Hints.com hint on SSH keys that left me totally confused:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?s...2062816694

Questions:

1) What tool is best/easiest for creating a secure connection on an open wireless network, say at an internet cafe?

2) Does MacFUSE/MacFusion look like a worthwhile (safe?) system to use to create a SSH tunnel to a remote machine? [Am I even using the correct terminology here?]

3) On a side note, there's a comment in that first Mac OS X Hints.com thread that mentions slow file transfers using AFP over TCP. I've been puzzled for years now about why this is. I can create an AFP connection to a remote server in a client's office, but the damn thing is glacial using the Finder. DotMac/iDisk is the same. Using an FTP program (or something like Goliath for iDisk), it's much more usable... Is there a tool in the SSL/SSH shed that would get around the slowness of WAN AFP access, with the added benefit of better security?

Of course, I very much appreciate any and all input on this. Even if it's just to point me in the direction of a resource that would be a good place to begin furthering my education about all of this ...

Many, many thanks in advance for your help!
John

[ztirffritz]

SSH is not to terribly complicated. It just opens an encrypted connection between two points. It looks and functions EXACTLY like the standard BASH console. The only difference is that when you issue a command it is execute on the remote machine. The connection can also be used for other purposes, such as opening VPN connections, or secure HTML sessions.

[john-o]

Well, that's not what I asked! I know basically what SSH is. I just wish I knew more about the many options available to use it other than via the command line!!!

You say: "...can also be used for other purposes, such as opening VPN connections, or secure HTML sessions." How about a little elaboration on the techniques available for those purposes?? That's what I'm looking for!

Thanks,
John