point me in the right direction: remote file access

[rfakhrai]

Howdy -- networking is not my specialty by any means but the semester is approaching and I'm going to try to make it a little more streamlined ....

My scenario:

Computer 1: desktop at home running 11.04, connected to the internet via hard connection through a configurable router.

Computer 2: Asus EeePC 1015pem netbook running 10.04 connected to unsecured wireless network at the university.

I would like to be able to use Computer 2 to access files on Computer 1 while on campus. Is this possible? I'm not looking to "share my desktop". In fact, I'd prefer that this is all CLI or lightweight graphical. All I want to do is be able to look at my files from Computer 1 on Computer 2 and copy them as needed to Computer 2.

Can SSH do this for me? What are some considerations to be made? Will I have to tunnel my connection through the university wireless? If so, I might be out of luck because they don't seem to be very friendly with linux unfortunately.

Either way, please give me some suggestions. Thanks much.

[oshunluvr]

Re: point me in the right direction: remote file access

Well, you can use an ssh tunnel via a proxy server, but it's not simple. Or setup a private website.

IMO if you're sharing less than 2gb of files or so, a better and far simpler option is cloud storage like ubuntu one or dropbox.

[rfakhrai]

Re: point me in the right direction: remote file access

that's the answer I was afraid of. I guess I can try something like cloud storage. Basically I wanted the flexibility to grab whatever I need from Computer 1 but now that I think about it, I should only need things from my "documents" folder. Any testimonials about ubuntu one?

[kubicle]

Re: point me in the right direction: remote file access

Cloud storage would probably be simpler to set up, but SSH should work, too (and ssh should be more versatile)...provided your university network allows connections to the internet (and so to your home computer) and your university and your ISP don't block ssh traffic (there are ways around that as well).

You can use sftp to transfer files securely between the two computers (sftp opens and uses your ssh connection), and there is an sftp kio slave for dolphin (and other KDE software) as well (typing sftp://username@ipaddress_or_hostname in the address bar in dolphin allows you to browse and copy the remote files like they were local files)

Cloud storage is fine if that meets your requirements, but if you decide to go ssh, here's a few pointers:

1. the machine(s) that act(s) as a server need(s) the ssh server package installed, connecting machines only need the client package.

2. it's important to set up the server securely if you allow connections to it from outside your LAN, I'd recommend at least disabling password logins and set up host key authentication (that way only users/machines that have their public key stored on the server can connect to it).

3. If your server has a dynamic IP (that changes often) from your ISP, you probably want to set up a way to get that IP number with your laptop (you need the IP to connect to the server)...for example, you can use dyndns (or another similar service) to keep track of your server's IP.

4. If your server has a firewall protecting it, you have to allow incoming connections to the ssh service (of course you can set up restrict access to the public IP range of your university). If you have a router, you also have to forward ssh traffic to your server's LAN Address (which is different from the public IP)

There are a lot of ssh howtos available on the internet if you want to read up more (highly recommended), you can of course ask questions here as well.

[dibl]

Re: point me in the right direction: remote file access

If 2GB is sufficient space, and the data are not sensitive or copyrighted (by someone else), then Ubuntu One is a pretty satisfactory solution for your scenario, I would think. You'll just have to have the self-discipline to update your documents before shutting down at home and going to the university.

[oshunluvr]

Re: point me in the right direction: remote file access

I use dropbox mostly because it's more universal - in the sense that if you refer others and they sign up, you get 250mb more storage for free and I have windows and mac users among my associates (gasp!) I have a 3gb free dropbox account right now.

Another possible obstacle to ssh tunneling is if you don't have a fixed ip. Again, not impossible, but adds another layer of complexity.

Again, it your only real need is documents, no reason why you couldn't keep your whole documents folder (or most of it) online. I can't speak for One, but dropbox does a real slick job and there's a native client available for most all platforms including my Blackberry. There's a 'Public" folder available too where you can drop a file, copy and paste a link to it, and send it to someone.

If I were to move to a paid level service I'd switch to Ubuntu One so at least I'd feel like the money was going to linux developers. :P

If you want to share large amounts of media (music, pictures, videos) I'd recommend TVMobili. I can stream content from my server to my own TV's and devices and I share with a few friends and family members.

[dibl]

Re: point me in the right direction: remote file access

I personally do not use the "sync" function of U1, but I know a guy who does, and it seems to work very nicely. Documents "appear" on your internet-connected computer fairly promptly after they have been uploaded (from elsewhere) to U1.

[rfakhrai]

Re: point me in the right direction: remote file access

Thanks for the thorough discussion, everyone. I'm going to become acquainted with U1. So far, it's smooth with few hiccups. I had never really thought about the security compromises that would have had to be made with an open connection so, for now, U1 is a perfect solution.

...slowly moving into the 21st century.