NAS Linux question

AndyRN · August 30, 2014

I have an old PC I kept in the basement that I put Ubuntu on that I would like to turn into a NAS. My issue is that the rest of the PC's in the house are Windows and Android tablets/phones.

1. Is there anything that will let me tie all of these together?

2. I don't know much about NAS, I know FreeNAS is what most people use, can this be used as cloud storage and accessed from off site as well?

Redportal · August 30, 2014

Linux is a great way to go about making your own cloud. It's secure and much faster than windows in many cases.

All you have to do is download, setup and configure FreeNAS, then make sure you port forward the correct ports to allow for remote access. Once that's done you can now access the cloud/nas anywhere in the world. (Providing you have a valid internet link)

And for your question about accessing the NAS via a windows PC, yes you can. Just use the map network disk or remote folder location, then enter the name of the machine (IP) and then the name of the drive. For example I have a NAS running on the local ip "192.168.0.30" therefore to connect via my windows PC, I enter map network drive and type in "\\192.168.0.30\Volume_1". This Volume_1 is the name of the hard disk installed on the NAS. This really depends how you configure your FreeNAS box, however most setups are the same. If your still having problems google how to connect to a NAS hard disk remotely etc.

For android, the setup is almost the same, however you must download and use an app to connect to the remote folder/disk.

If you are still having problems, just let us know. I would be more than happy to try and help you out.

AndyRN · September 11, 2014

Thanks for the help. I have my NAS setup with FreeNAS. I used Wendel's video on Teksyndicate which was helpful. I set up to drives in Mirror (which is Raid 1...right?).

Could I get some help on setting up Rsync. I would like to backup files from my Windows7 pc to the NAS. When I select path it only brings up the NAS drive? I tried Synctoy and it works okay, but it fails a lot of the files because it says the files are being used so I end up running it several times until it finally copies the whole folder successfully. It also leaves a lot of temporary files in the destination folder on the NAS.

Thanks again, I will sleep better knowing my girls' pictures are backed up.