Internet accessed file server

[alizaidi2000]

Hi, LTT Forums

 

I'm trying to make a file server that can be accessed from the internet. I looked at FTP but i cant actually edit documents. I tried webdav but its almost impossible to actually get it working on windows server 2012. Any suggestions?

[Ronda]

5 minutes ago, alizaidi2000 said:

Any suggestions?

Use SMB and a free-as-in-freedom OS instead of Windows Server.

[alizaidi2000]

Sorry i should have said that i want to use my active directory domain as the userse for the file server

[Mikensan]

Best way is to dial in to your network through some VPN solution. Exposing your network to share files is risky business.

 

You could use Owncloud however. Nifty solution.

[alizaidi2000]

But owncloud doesnt support windows unless you input it into a vm. For that to work you need to plug the drive into the vm, i'm also using the drive as a network share on my LAN

[NelizMastr]

Well, then your only real option is a VPN. I'd recommend OpenVPN since it's pretty easy to setup.

[KuJoe]

Why not use something like Dropbox or Google Drive?

[NelizMastr]

1 minute ago, KuJoe said:

Why not use something like Dropbox or Google Drive?

One reason would be that you actually own your files, instead of Dropbox or Google. So basically from a privacy stand point, hosting your files yourself is definitely better than public. It's not viable though if you don't know what you're doing.

[KuJoe]

Just now, NelizMastr said:

One reason would be that you actually own your files, instead of Dropbox or Google. So basically from a privacy stand point, hosting your files yourself is definitely better than public. It's not viable though if you don't know what you're doing.

That's why I'm asking him what his reasons for self hosting versus using a public service. Depending on his needs an online service might be cheaper and easier for him.

[Mikensan]

@alizaidi2000 You don't need a VM for owncloud... it's just a web application. Install WAMP or use IIS (I'd avoid IIS) and drag + drop owncloud to the www root. WAMP makes it just a few clicks to make the apache available to the internet vs LAN.

[NelizMastr]

4 hours ago, KuJoe said:

That's why I'm asking him what his reasons for self hosting versus using a public service. Depending on his needs an online service might be cheaper and easier for him.

Tbh, I'd take functionality over A E S T H E T I C S but that's just me.

[alizaidi2000]

Thanks for all your suggestions i shall try them once i get home.

[KuJoe]

I would recommend PPTP for your VPN because it's the easiest VPN server to setup, supported natively by all OSes (no client downloads), has the lowest overhead compared to other VPNs, uses less CPU on both server and client, and fits your needs perfectly. You don't need the high level of encryption Open OpenVPN offers in this case, you just need a VPN for its intended purpose: to access a private network.

[alizaidi2000]

OK so i tried most of your suggestions. For owncloud i got it up and running but once i port forwarded the ip address it was inaccessible from the internet. I tried "VPNing" but it was not an ideal solution for my needs. Eventually i decided to install Tonido, once i installed it basically acted like webdav server and also has a great web interface . Surprisingly it did all this without port forwarding which still baffles me. Anyways i just decided to go with tonido and it works great

[Mikensan]

2 hours ago, alizaidi2000 said:

OK so i tried most of your suggestions. For owncloud i got it up and running but once i port forwarded the ip address it was inaccessible from the internet. I tried "VPNing" but it was not an ideal solution for my needs. Eventually i decided to install Tonido, once i installed it basically acted like webdav server and also has a great web interface . Surprisingly it did all this without port forwarding which still baffles me. Anyways i just decided to go with tonido and it works great

If it's not port forwarding then it's using a man-in-the-middle method where both your server and the client connect to their servers, and they just hand the traffic off. No need to forward ports if the server is reach out. That's how Teamviewer and the like work. Glad you found a solution.

[Electronics Wizardy]

On 10/3/2016 at 1:33 PM, alizaidi2000 said:

Sorry i should have said that i want to use my active directory domain as the userse for the file server

You can put linux on a ad domain.

[alizaidi2000]

5 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

You can put linux on a ad domain.

Yeah but he wanted replace the os of the server with linux the server was a domain controller. I guess it didn't matter since i ended up going with the free version of tonido 

 

Also i have tried it with linux before and it was like hell to setup and get permissions straight.

[alizaidi2000]

6 hours ago, Mikensan said:

If it's not port forwarding then it's using a man-in-the-middle method where both your server and the client connect to their servers, and they just hand the traffic off. No need to forward ports if the server is reach out. That's how Teamviewer and the like work. Glad you found a solution.

Meh, files update very quickly on all clients so this kind of method doesn't really matter that much