wanting to make my own cloud
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lildrawers75
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu May 21, 2015 5:07 pm
- Contact:
ok so I have been looking around the interwebz on how to make my old Western Digital external HD into a cloud server (remote access for my tablet and phone) and all I have found is "how to's" for old computers and a few plug and play items that cost around $100 or more so was wondering if anyone might be able to point me in the right direction on how to do what I want
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ticktock1231
- Posts: 419
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:51 am
- Location: Minnesota, USA
There are a few ways to do this. The way that I did it was to take a network'ed WD hard drive (was built to be on the network). From there I configured my router to have VPN (not every router can do this), finally I had to set up a dyndns. For me to get to my files I remote in to my router using the dyndns name and then I use a filebrowser on iOS to get to my files. You could also hook the hard drive in to a computer that is always on and share the path.
Reading this again, it sounds way more complicated then it is. Step one would be to see if you want to go the above route. If so then step two would be to see if your router has VPN ability. Step three would be to setup a dyndns type solution (my asus router had its own for free). Next would be to figure out both how to remote in to the network and access your drive.
Please let me know if you have any questions. If i made you more confused I am very sorry.
Reading this again, it sounds way more complicated then it is. Step one would be to see if you want to go the above route. If so then step two would be to see if your router has VPN ability. Step three would be to setup a dyndns type solution (my asus router had its own for free). Next would be to figure out both how to remote in to the network and access your drive.
Please let me know if you have any questions. If i made you more confused I am very sorry.
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AnjunaBob
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2015 11:09 am
- Contact:
You can also ask your ISP to give you a static IP address and they may do it for free, then you can just use the IP address to your router to VPN. Of course they did it for free for me, because I had my own router that I used and for them it was a requirement to statically assign the IP address. I do agree with ticktock that dyndns would make it more user friendly and less ISP involved.
I am assuming that you have an Android or Windows device that you are trying to connect to the files, Apple devices can, but not natively.
I didn't get the WD cloud, but I had a 2 TB drive and a cheap-o XP IBM workstation laying around. Hooked up the XP machine, turned on filesharing and put it on my DMZ. With explicit file/folder permissions and a long (16-24 character) password with Alphanumerics and Symbols it's almost as secure, but my risk is pretty low for someone snooping the line. I only use it for non-sensitive files so it's not a problem if someone does. If you are concerned about someone seeing your data, then hook it up using a VPN.
In case you are wondering what the difference is, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sends files over the network in plain text, which means anyone can snoop the line and get plain text documents. SFTP password protects the connection using SSH which is what I use, and encrypts the line to a degree. VPN establishes a connection the network and creates an SSH tunnel that stays open for the duration of your connection encrypting everything that goes across the line including broadcasts, but it can also provide you with options for Remote Desktop and VNC. All three connections will still require either a static IP address or dyndns.
I am assuming that you have an Android or Windows device that you are trying to connect to the files, Apple devices can, but not natively.
I didn't get the WD cloud, but I had a 2 TB drive and a cheap-o XP IBM workstation laying around. Hooked up the XP machine, turned on filesharing and put it on my DMZ. With explicit file/folder permissions and a long (16-24 character) password with Alphanumerics and Symbols it's almost as secure, but my risk is pretty low for someone snooping the line. I only use it for non-sensitive files so it's not a problem if someone does. If you are concerned about someone seeing your data, then hook it up using a VPN.
In case you are wondering what the difference is, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sends files over the network in plain text, which means anyone can snoop the line and get plain text documents. SFTP password protects the connection using SSH which is what I use, and encrypts the line to a degree. VPN establishes a connection the network and creates an SSH tunnel that stays open for the duration of your connection encrypting everything that goes across the line including broadcasts, but it can also provide you with options for Remote Desktop and VNC. All three connections will still require either a static IP address or dyndns.
