FreeNas and BitTorrent Sync??

[Affinity Collective Tech]

I'm planning on building a rig to use as a NAS but I want my buddy from across the state to be able to access it so we can collaborate on video projects. Can I use FreeNAS and BitTorrent Sync to allow him access to the NAS?

 

Thanks,

 

Connor

[Godlygamer23]

Yup. There's a BitTorrent Sync plugin you can install.

[Affinity Collective Tech]

[how to delete double post?]

[Affinity Collective Tech]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Yup. There's a BitTorrent Sync plugin you can install.

Fantastic. And that should allow my friend to upload files to my NAS easily? What would he see on his end?

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, Affinity Collective Tech said:

Fantastic. And that should allow my friend to upload files to my NAS easily? What would he see on his end?

Have you ever used BitTorrent Sync before?

[Affinity Collective Tech]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

Have you ever used BitTorrent Sync before?

Nope, just started the research 10 minutes ago.

 

[Godlygamer23]

2 minutes ago, Affinity Collective Tech said:

Nope, just started the research 10 minutes ago.

It doesn't allow direct access to files and folders. It syncs them between the devices that are linked. If you want direct access, FTP is your best bet.

[Affinity Collective Tech]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

It doesn't allow direct access to files and folders. It syncs them between the devices that are linked. If you want direct access, FTP is your best bet.

So he couldn't upload/download to/from my NAS using BT sync? What FTP service should I use?

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, Affinity Collective Tech said:

So he couldn't upload/download to/from my NAS using BT sync? What FTP service should I use?

In order for him to upload/download, the folders must be in sync on both ends. If he adds a file or folder to the main folder, BitTorrent Sync will detect that and start sending the files to all linked machines. Same goes with if you add files to the folder on your end. It'll sync with the server, and also his PC.

I generally use FileZilla because it's free but the interface is a little "busy."

[Affinity Collective Tech]

Could we set up FileZilla to be used with the NAS? What would you suggest?

[brwainer]

if you want a setup where all files are stored on the FreeNAS server and your friend can upload / download files from it, then an FTP server is your best bet. FileZilla is one example of FTP software - they make a client that works on many operating systems, but the FileZilla FTP server can only run on Windows. You will have to find some other FTP server for FreeNAS (I think FreeNAS might even have FTP builtin).

If you want a setup where your friend always has a copy of every file on the NAS available on his computer too, then you want BitTorrent Sync. It keeps one folder (or more) synchronized on two (or more) computers. It is like DropBox without having a server in the cloud - in fact that was why BitTorrent Sync was developed.

[Godlygamer23]

1 hour ago, Affinity Collective Tech said:

Could we set up FileZilla to be used with the NAS? What would you suggest?

Using FreeNAS, you simply set up the FTP feature and then any FTP program will work, including ES File Explorer on Android(which is pretty great as it handles many other things), and FileZilla on Windows and Linux.

[Affinity Collective Tech]

15 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Using FreeNAS, you simply set up the FTP feature and then any FTP program will work, including ES File Explorer on Android(which is pretty great as it handles many other things), and FileZilla on Windows and Linux.

 

15 hours ago, brwainer said:

if you want a setup where all files are stored on the FreeNAS server and your friend can upload / download files from it, then an FTP server is your best bet. FileZilla is one example of FTP software - they make a client that works on many operating systems, but the FileZilla FTP server can only run on Windows. You will have to find some other FTP server for FreeNAS (I think FreeNAS might even have FTP builtin).

If you want a setup where your friend always has a copy of every file on the NAS available on his computer too, then you want BitTorrent Sync. It keeps one folder (or more) synchronized on two (or more) computers. It is like DropBox without having a server in the cloud - in fact that was why BitTorrent Sync was developed.

 

Thank you two for the help, I'll let you know if I have any problems setting up a FTP server once I get the FreeNAS set up.

[Beskamir]

I advise using Syncthing since 1. it's open source and 2. it's more secure.

 

 

Edit:

Read what you actually want to do and well, while syncing files between the two devices would "work" it wouldn't give your friend direct access to your server. Which I think is actually better since I'm a insane when it comes to security.

 

But if you really want your friend to have direct access to your server then you could set up a vpn server with something like pfsense to which your friend would connect to. Then they would be able to access your server as though they were on the same network.

 

This is what I use to connect to my server when I'm not at my house since it's the most secured method I could find. However it might be a bit difficult to setup and requires a good router. In my case I had to repurpose an old desktop to be my router since the dlink pos didn't have vpn server capabilities.

[F4S4K4N]

14 hours ago, Affinity Collective Tech said:

 

 

Thank you two for the help, I'll let you know if I have any problems setting up a FTP server once I get the FreeNAS set up.

 

FTP may work out, but it sounds like you really want VPN + Samba/NFS which is a more difficult setup. However with a VPN setup you can mount shares just like you're on the physical network with the NAS box.

[JJOATz]

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