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Remote access to NAS device

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imported_tappertrainman

Junior Member
Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction to some useful advice.

I have a friend who has 1 home computer, set up in a typical manner with a cable modem and wireless router. The home computer is hardwired to the router, as is a small NAS. His is by Dlink, if that matters. He uses the server to store pictures and music. It is mapped to a drive letter (G? F?) on his computer, but also has a IP address of course for inside the home network. This server runs *nix, but he and I are both not familiar with it, so we'd prefer to stick to Windows programs or solutions.

He would like to be able to access the NAS drive from work, to stream music, and on occasion access photos, Quicken, etc. He would like the security to be in place, but it doesn't need to be protecting government secrets, hopefully just username and password, etc.

It is also a requirement that his wife be able to use the computer at home possibly at the same time, so this rules out Remote Desktop or similar programs. If possible (but not required) he would like to give friends access to photos, etc. as well, but if that can't be done, then it's okay.

Any help here? I've looked into personal webservers, but not sure if that is secure, or able to work with the NAS device. I've looked into VPNs, but not sure if that will do what I want, to connect to the NAS WITHOUT blocking the home computer.

I'd love to get him running on this as soon as possible, if you need more information, please request and I'll see what I can get.
 
In most cases what he wants to achieve is not possible. Unless the NAS has some VPN ability any access to it will require controlling the home PC.

The only way (that I can think) is that he has to have his router support VPN, which if he is using the modem\router that came from the ISP odds are it does not support that. So if he gets a router that supports VPN he would have to configure the cable modem\router to be in bridge mode (basically turn off router functions) and then connect that new router. Then he would have to configure the VPN, and unless if he has a static IP he would have to setup\configure DynDNS. Then he would have to go to work and set up a VPN connection to his home router, which if all works as intended he should be able to simply access the NAS via the internal IP address. Though depending on how his access to internet is managed at work he may not be able to make that connection if they have it locked down.

My recommendation is that he just buy a big flash drive or external HDD and take a copy of his music\photos with him to work.
 
The model of the NAS is the Dlink DNS-323. I do know that the NAS supports FTP and the instructions specifically tell you how to set up remote access through a router via FTP. My friend's main concern with that is he might store Quicken information on there, or just the fact that he has read on the internet that it isn't very secure. Is there a way to make it reasonably secure? (password/port change?) And/or is it even possible to stream music over FTP? He records a local morning show from the internet onto the NAS, which he then listens to at work, which is why he doesn't want to simply carry a flash drive or portable hard drive.

Thanks for any more help anyone can provide.
 
No he cannot "stream" over FTP. It would be a matter of connecting via FTP and downloading the file directly from the NAS to play it. Though if he wants to listen to the show that is recorded he can look into the music streaming apps that are out there. Those would output a audio stream that he maybe able to connect to. It would just be an app running on the system and wouldn't effect the user on the home machine.

As for the security, its probably strong enough to keep out the nonskilled-somewhat skilled people. As long as there isnt any widespread obvious hacks for the device it should be alright, be best to update its firmware to the latest version. As for the quicken if he is paranoid he can look into various forms of encryption. Again since its FTP access only he would have to download the file, unencrypt it, open\modify\save the file, reencrypt, and FTP it back to the NAS. If he still wants to be able to access the music\photos but keep his quicken safe odds are when you setup the FTP you can pick which folders are accessible so he only has to publish the folders that are not that critical.
 
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