Internet file sharing and the iPad?

Hey all,

Okay so I have this old laptop that I have just hooked up to a USB 1TB Hard Drive that I'm going to be using to store pictures and what not. Currently, it's just shared over my network via Windows 2000 Pro. I am considering installing FreeNAS (Or some linux distro) to have more advanced drive sharing capabilities, including sharing over the internet.

My question is, what protocols, if any, would allow me to view files on that drive over the internet? Over 3G? The ideal scenario would be me pulling my iPad out, connecting via 3G, and pulling pictures off of the drive to show folks, and perhaps with the Camera Connection Kit, putting pics back ON that 1TB drive.

The laptop is going to be used strictly as a server, connected via ethernet sitting behind a desk. I am not opposed to installing any OS on there that's free, and will let me do this. I have copies of XP and Windows 2000 Pro, otherwise I was looking at FreeNAS (SSH, FTP, Samba et al), or even Ubuntu, but the lighter the OS the better. (Anything above XP wouldn't likely run on this laptop. It's a dino, 192MB of RAM and a 366MHz CPU)

Jailbreak is OK IF the 4.2.1 Untethered JB comes out soon, otherwise that will be a no-go.

Thanks,

John

sfe80 said:

I've had great results using a free app called ZumoCast to access any file my home computer. Great app.

Click to expand...

Well, thanks, that would work if I was streaming pics from a home PC running Windows, but the issue is connecting for these file types on a NAS (Network Attached Storage) Device using a free FreeBSD distribution called FreeNAS, OR if someone knew of a way to access those types of protocols, for free, through Windows XP or otherwise. One option is FTP, is there a decent FTP client for the iPad? That's not the best solution but it would work.

Also, the BIGGEST problem with Zumocast, is the fact that as I stated before, this isn't for my main home PC, this is for a very old, very slow PC being used as a FILE server, I don't think ZumoCast will work on Windows 2000 or XP, and regardless I doubt it performs well at all on a 366MHz 192MB RAM PC.

Thanks for your input, but it's not quite what I am looking for.

-John