Creating a Home File Share Server

A

alphaamanitin

Hello FreeBSD Forum,

I want to create a home file share server that can be accessed by myself and family members scattered across the US. I have moderate non-technical experience in linux and would like to use FreeBSD for my server. I searched on google and here for a how-to, but did not find anything. Does anyone know where a guide is and/or have any advice?

Thanks,

AlphaA
 
Well, I would have just edited my post to say this but I cannot seem to find anything letting me do that-
Sorry about posting it in the wrong section-I was not sure which one was more appropriate. Also, I would like to say that by "non-technical" experience I mean I have not formal training in computer science but feel confident that I can keep up with most technical terms and instructions.

Thanks for moving my post to the appropriate section.

AlphaA
 
I don't know of "How to create a home file server guide" but that would probably be a go idea.

But I assume, your family will be using windows so your going to want to look into using Samba. You could look into NFS for sharing with Linux or other BSD machines.
 
Hmm, Mollify looks interesting, but it does not say anything about what operating system style it is based in. I like the idea of FreeBSD because I know it is very stable and secure. Has anyone used Mollify?

AlphaA
 
If you try to provide access to the files outside your local network (as you stated) the network traffic should be encrypted (either use ssh [sshfs/sftp or ssh-tunnelling] or a VPN setup).

Look at the "OpenSSH" and "VPN over IPsec" handbook section.

I suggest using a OpenSSH-sftp-server configured to only allow access from certain users with password-protected keyfiles, while login with password should be disabled (there are many bots out there to guess your password).
There is also the option to jail the sshd or chroot the ssh-user to add another layer of security.

The bonus of using VPN or OpenSSH is, that # freebsd-update fetch install does a nice job at keeping your FreeBSD-Base-System up-to-date.

If your clients use Win, they can connect to the Fileserver with Dokan-SSHFS or WinSCP and other SFTP/SCP clients.

If you like to use a WebApp like Mollify customize your httpd to use https transfer.

And you need to know your dynamic IP-Address of your connection to the world, something like dyndns.com could work.
Also the firewall of your router has to forward the IP-packages to your FreeBSD machine.
 
FreeNAS does look very promising for me. So far I have not attempted anything. I plan to run this server off of a AMD Sempron 2.8 gHz, with 2 gig of RAM, and a hard line to my cysco linksystem N router. This will be the first server of any kind I have set up. Basically I want something simple and secure. By simple I just mean does not have a learning curve that would require weeks dedicated to only learning about the server OS. I want it to be secure enough that I can feel confident hooking it up closing all access except for the few people who I give it to, and be able to run it without a constant monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I don't have an extra monitor around right now and the tower is going to have to sit in a very small living room. Thank you all for the help. I will look into FreeNAS and get back with questions.
 
One quick lesson I learned the hard way in case you were considering it... don't bother trying to offer Samba over VPN (at least unless you have very low latency links) - the performance is just unusably horrible :)

sim
 
Given your requirements, I think you'll find (as previously mentioned) FreeNAS to be a good starting point. For ease of administration, simple upgrades and gradual learning curve it's probably your best bet.
 
michaelrmgreen said:
I use FreeNas at home and it IS very good. HOWEVER perhaps you should look at a simpler solution for remote access. Try DropBox or DriveHQ.
Click to expand...


That would be much simpler, but I actually want to learn more about servers in the process of allow my family to be more connected. My parents feel left out as I am 1200 miles away for my PhD.

Thanks for the good information though, I may use it for other purposes.

AlphaA
 
Sorry for double posting.

I have yet to start making my server. I have acquired all the pieces, but I am swamped with work. I just got a research assistantship and am preparing to fly back to visit my family. I will update this thread again when I start and let everyone know my experiences. I know that I enjoy reading progress reports from threads I have commented in, and some of you may as well.

Thanks,

AlphaA
 
Well, I finally got it started. I finally managed to get all the pieces, sales from newegg and cannibalizing old computers. I have FreeNAS installed and halfway set up. I need to enable SSH and I don't know how to go about getting a DSA key in PEM format. But I will muddle through this. Thanks everyone.

AlphaA
 
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