Connecting to remote fileserver

[Tanax]

Okay, I've searched the web for a solution for what I need but have yet to find anything.

Basically, the criterias I have are the following:

• Be able to have a folder on my Windows PC that acts like a link to a folder on my fileserver so that I can browse the files as if they were located on my PC
• Be able to have a folder on my Mac laptop that acts like a link to a folder on my fileserver so that I can browse the files as if they were located on my Mac
• The files should only be stored on the fileserver and nothing should be stored on the computers connecting to it(which is how Dropbox are doing it - this takes up space on the computers and this is what I'm trying to avoid by having a fileserver)
• Be able to connect from other networks aswell and not just local. This is important as I need to be able to get files from the fileserver when I am in school or at work
• The fileserver will also act as other things such as torrenting, hosting websites, perhaps hosting gameservers, etc. so I would rather have it be based on Windows but if another alternative is better, feel free to suggest

What I don't want/need:

• I don't need a web interface but doesn't matter if there is one
• I don't want to connect using FTP clients or any other clients(KEY!!), I simply want it to show up on my PC/Mac as a regular folder/harddrive and be able to browse it as if the files were located on the computer I'm browsing it from

I think that covers it.
All the solutions I've found so far are either using a client, require FTP servers or have everything done via a web interface.

Is this not possible? It's almost 2012 and this seems like quite a basic thing, yet I haven't found anything that does this :/ so I'm turning to the community for help in the search for a solution!

Hopefully you know something I don't
Thanks!

 

[skyking]

The local folder thing is easy using samba.
The remote part will always use some form of client, or a VPN.
The simple solution is use SSH and sftp when on the road, you could put that in a thumb drive and use it anywhere.

 

[Tanax]

The local folder thing is easy using samba.
The remote part will always use some form of client, or a VPN.
The simple solution is use SSH and sftp when on the road, you could put that in a thumb drive and use it anywhere.

Thank you for your reply!

I've looked into Samba and it looks very promising. Although I haven't exactly figured out how I would go about, it does indeed look like it should be able to do the folder requirement I had, based on the description on Samba website.

And damn.. The thing is, I'm not always on the "road" when I'm not at the home where the server is. I live in 2 places you see. So when I am at my other home, where the server is not located, I need to be able to access the server files just like I would be able to with Samba locally.

Anyone else has another solution that works both locally and externally? Or at least have an explanation to why it won't work externally(because if it works, it should exist and it doesn't look like it exists so I'm assuming it won't work for some reason)?

 

[ViviTheMage]

How much control do you need to have over the data?

Why not use a service like sugarsync/drop box?

 

[Tanax]

How much control do you need to have over the data?

Why not use a service like sugarsync/drop box?

I don't need much more control than what Dropbox provides. What I do not want though is having to upload my pictures to Dropbox. I just don't trust it that well. Same with Facebook. So I want my private fileserver.

 

[JackMDS]

TeamViewer, http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx