Accessing Computer's Files from another Network

[markyj53]

so here is the problem. I Have a desktop at work, a desktop at home and a laptop that i use as my daily drivers. sometimes I find the need to open some work files on my home computer or vice versa and occasionally on my phone. i've tried using cloud services like google drive, however my 2tb SSDs from work and home are almost full and finding a cloud service with 4tb is not only expensive, but unless it backs up every hour or something i won't have access to all my files. (don't worry i have physical backups, just not cloud ones).

 

TL:DR - I guess what i'm asking is, is there any free (or reasonably cheap) way to remote access my drives without having to manually backup to some cloud service. 

 

Thanks.

(FYI Both computers are on 24/7)

[Nano Adam]

You could try port forwarding to your router your computer. FTP is also an option. But port forwarding is not the best for security reasons as leaving a computer open in the open internet is not safe. 

 

I myself find setting up a local VPN might work. It will simulate the environment of being inside that specific network itself. 

 

If your home ISP is Xfinity. You might have trouble with a VPN since I was unable to but you could talk to them.

 

All the options mentioned are free. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

3 hours ago, ammar_code said:

You could try port forwarding to your router your computer. FTP is also an option. But port forwarding is not the best for security reasons as leaving a computer open in the open internet is not safe. 

 

I myself find setting up a local VPN might work. It will simulate the environment of being inside that specific network itself. 

 

If your home ISP is Xfinity. You might have trouble with a VPN since I was unable to but you could talk to them.

 

All the options mentioned are free. 

SFTP may be an option but FTP certainly is not.  Sending your work files across the Internet unencrypted would be a pretty dumb idea.

A VPN would be overkill as you'd still need to open ports for that and it would only allow access to home files from work, not work files from home, its not really what is being asked for here.

Syncing the work files to the home files using something like rsync over SSH or SFTP from work would make more sense.

[Nano Adam]

For SSH you would still need to open the SSH port on your router. 

 

The best option would be something like iCloud's 2TB storage plan or Google Cloud Storage. You may need to invest money but Google Cloud Backup Software immediately sync changes as soon as a change is detected. 

 

I use it for Development and accessing my projects outside of my main device. 

[LordBone]

It pains me to admit it, but sometimes just using Hamachi is much easier in this regard. https://www.vpn.net/

[bobbybdennis]

You could check to see if your company has a firewall and if it does most of the time like watchguard they have the remote desktop download right on it. set it up while you're on your companys network and you'll be good to go when you get home.. Hope some of this information helps.