Need help with my home server.

[FlameEngland]

So ive built myself a project build, My build is intended for back up and storage.

I want to be able to use and connect to the server from anywhere and remotely access the files from work etc. Now i also want my friends to be able to connect to the server also, as they said they will be donating some hard drives to the build, and they intend to also store files etc.

All i want to know is, whats the best way to set it up , What software should i use, The ideal situation would be to have a network drive on everyone's system, But is this even possible for the systems that wont be on my network.

Now my internet connection is good enough to handle any potential traffic, I have a 120mb down 12mb up connection.

The server is built and setup, i have a copy of windows 7 spare and i can get hold of a copy of server 2008 also. I know linus built a home server, but i dont think he went over remote access.

I want it to be as easy as possible for my friends to connect to the server,

The setup i would like is this, A separate secure folder for my work, which requires a password to access, a separate folder for my friends to share and store files, and i would like to be able to have their machines and my work machines automatically connect to the server, basically like dropbox.

Any help is really appreciated, even if someone can point me in the right direction would be good.

[rufee]

Set up a VPN for yourself so you can be in your LAN anytime you need. For friends setup an FTP server (FileZilla, or similar), with one you can setup different accounts, folders... basically all you need for management. There is software to make it look like you have a remote drive while using FTP.

[FlameEngland]

Yes thats the sort of setup i would like, Basically i would like my friends to be able to just have a drive mounted as if it was local, but its actually the drive/s on the server, and for myself i will just setup a standard home network for myself.

[urworstnit3m3r]

If you want them to have the drive mounted you might want to look at samba, with a VPN and have a shortcut to the drive on their desktops, I could be wrong but i believe this would work.

[azeotrope]

you might want to look at samba

He specifically said he's using windows, so no point in using samba. smb/cifs is too difficult to secure on the internet.

ftp is the best way to go, make sure you use sftp though, not normal ftp with a client like filezilla. also set a strong password (around 20 chars at least) and use a firewall that can limit connection attempts to stop brute force attacks and ddos.

[ha1o2surfer]

You could also put an Untangle box (google untangle) in front of everything and set up OpenVPN. Then your buddies can automatically connect to it via Windows built-in VPN or Macs builtin VPN software pretty easily. That way, you can mount a local drive all with it being very secure. FTP is a good option but you can't stream off it, it has to copy the entire file first because it can be opened in any kind of software.

[Deviantsteam]

Using Untangle would be a great option. What I did was set up an vShere hypervisor and had both Untagled and Server 2008 r2 setup on the same machine. Untangled is nice because it can serve as a firewall and DHCP server all in one for pretty much free. If you know how to use Windows server you can also set up VPN though that using RRAS but it can prove to be a little difficult to setup if you don't know what you're doing.

[h264]

you might want to look at samba

He specifically said he's using windows, so no point in using samba. smb/cifs is too difficult to secure on the internet.

ftp is the best way to go, make sure you use sftp though, not normal ftp with a client like filezilla. also set a strong password (around 20 chars at least) and use a firewall that can limit connection attempts to stop brute force attacks and ddos.

Password Authentication?

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SSH/OpenSSH/Keys

This method is far superior since you're completely protected against any man-in-the-middle attacks, and the password is entered on the client side only and never travels over the internet. The file you use as the key never travels over the internet either, only the encrypted chunk the server uses to authenticate the connection.

Buffer Overflows and other such payloads are always possible, but the majority of attacks are simple password brute force attempts. From there it's ssh server setup, and ssh auto blacklisting for bad connections. Tripwire, iptables, all that good stuff.

Run sftp off your ssh connection. Keep OpenSSH updated. He should just forget Windows if he wants to keep people off his box.

I can work on a how-to if the OP would like.

[FlameEngland]

Cant thank you guys enough for all your advice, Im learning slowly about all the different methods, For now im running server 2008 with a simple ftp server for now, Just trying to figure out how to setup ssh before i start using it for work documents.

 

Here a pic of the server for now, Its on a budget but heres a pic anyways, I will be doing a full build log on all my pcs when i have time.

 

 

 

 

[dylandylandylan]

Damn that's a nice looking server ;)

You using just general consumer parts?

I set up my home network server with FreeNAS, it's really nitpicky though, and I don't think it was a good start off point for myself. It's running really well though with 15 days uptime, no bugs, or anything. 

Again, awesome build!

[dylandylandylan]

Oh and quick question!

is that a video card in there? if so, why did you choose to use a video card?

is it because the CPU you chose doesn't have onboard graphics?

[FlameEngland]

No there was no onboard video, Just put it in for now, Got a gt430 im going to put in for lower power later.

 

And yes its all consumer parts :)

 

Its on a small budget more for learning and so i have a large backup for all my data, I'll do a full post with all the specs etc. 

[dylandylandylan]

No there was no onboard video, Just put it in for now, Got a gt430 im going to put in for lower power later.

 

And yes its all consumer parts :)

 

Its on a small budget more for learning and so i have a large backup for all my data, I'll do a full post with all the specs etc. 

 

That'd be awesome :)

Are you running a raid setup?