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Accessing a wireless Hard Drive from anywhere in the world?

Benguitar

Benguitar

Guest
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
1,253
1
Hello, I posted this question on the Airport Extreme product on the Apple Store, But I haven't gotten an answer, So I thought I'd post it here-

I have a 1.5TB Iomega USB Hard Drive and I would like to have my entire computer backed up on it and accessible whenever I need it.

My MacBook Pro's internal Hard Drive is 250GB but I have my iPhoto/iMovie Events/iMovie Projects stored on external drives to free up space/speed.

How can I setup my Iomega wirelessly to store all of my iPhoto/iMovie/etc and make it accessible wherever I am in the world?

I currently have it setup as an Airport Drive, But I think I can only access it when I'm on my local network?

I also backup my computer via SuperDuper.

I'd like to be able to boot up from it if I needed too, Incase my internal hard drive failed. (This may have something to do with 'Startup Disk>Network Startup Disk')

Anyway, If someone could please help me out here by telling me what I need to do and how to do it, I would highly appreciate that~

:)

-Benjamin
 
You could buy online storage and upload it there, it's the easiest solution. It's possible to do with a server too but I have no idea how and it requires some skills
 
Hellhammer said:
You could buy online storage and upload it there, it's the easiest solution. It's possible to do with a server too but I have no idea how and it requires some skills
Click to expand...

Basically, Like buying more space via MobileMe and just connecting to it?

I'd preferably like to use the Hard Drive I already have, So I don't have to purchase anymore space on MobileMe.
 
Benguitar said:
Basically, Like buying more space via MobileMe and just connecting to it?

I'd preferably like to use the Hard Drive I already have, So I don't have to purchase anymore space on MobileMe.
Click to expand...

Not MobileMe, it sucks, there are other cheaper ones too. It might be possible with some work but I'm no help for that
 
Hellhammer said:
Not MobileMe, it sucks, there are other cheaper ones too. It might be possible with some work but I'm no help for that
Click to expand...

I thought MobileMe would be fairly good with it's syncing and etc?

Hmm...

Well, Do you have any suggestions as to what other companies offer server hard drive backups?
 
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/429956/

This is a really good guide for what you might want to accomplish.

Personally, I use Carbonite to back up my computer at home, but others may suggest Mozy or Backblaze. They all cost around $50/year for unlimited storage.

Internet bootable drive, while (I guess) technically possible, is impractical for the majority of us. If you're that important, then clone your boot drive (with SuperDuper!) to an external portable usb drive and take that with you whenever you travel. If your hard drive dies, you can always boot from the USB drive and access your other files over the net.
 
Benguitar said:
I thought MobileMe would be fairly good with it's syncing and etc?

Hmm...

Well, Do you have any suggestions as to what other companies offer server hard drive backups?
Click to expand...

DropBox is pretty popular and Mozy is also okay. Uploading takes long time though so it can take few days to upload everything.
 
I don't know about the airport extremes so I won't get into that aspect.

But if you have a spare computer you can turn it into a webserver and just have the drive mounted on that.
Then you can access it any where :) This would only give you read access though (unless you created some webapp to write/upload to the server).

You could also just create an FTP Server. same effort/idea.
 
Hellhammer said:
DropBox is pretty popular and Mozy is also okay. Uploading takes long time though so it can take few days to upload everything.
Click to expand...

Hm, Very interesting, Both companies seem legitimate. Although I'd still like to use the hard drive I've already invested in..

I'm fairly skilled when it comes to setting up a server, I actually had it setup as a server for about a week. But I just want to clarify how I can do what I need to do and how I can access it.

Like, What is the URL I need to type in to go to my server or etc?

^^

That's what I had it setup as for about a week, An FTP server with a white MacBook that no one uses in our house-
 
Best of luck. With a little time and patience, I'm sure you'll get the setup you want. Also, google is your friend during this time. I can't tell you how many pages I read trying to set up a home SSH server to get remote access to my computers.
 
jdechko said:
Best of luck. With a little time and patience, I'm sure you'll get the setup you want. Also, google is your friend during this time. I can't tell you how many pages I read trying to set up a home SSH server to get remote access to my computers.
Click to expand...

Thanks-

So correct me if I'm wrong, But by the looks of DynDNS, I need to setup my hard drive on that spare mackbook and then just put in my DynDNS information?
 
Yes, by installing the DynDNS client and inputting your DynDNS credentials into it, the program will automatically update your custom domain name (yourname.dyndns.org or whatever) with your external IP address from your ISP.

Then you need to specify port forwarding on your AEBS. If you wanted to run a web server, you'd forward port 80 to your MacBook's LAN IP address. Typing yourname.dyndns.org into a web browser would bring up your webpage, hosted on your machine.

You could also set up an FTP server on the MacBook (using built in sharing preferences, I believe) and use ftp://[I]yourname.dyndns.org[/I]. Be aware, though, that FTP is insecure and transmits login credentials over open waves. The better way to do this would be to enable "Remote Login" in the sharing preferences. This will create an SSH (secure shell) server on your MacBook, allowing you everything from terminal access (remote restart of the macbook) to SFTP (FTP, but with greater security) as well as remote VNC (screen sharing/remote desktop) capabilities.

Here are a few excellent guides to get you off in the right direction.

http://www.stocksy.co.uk/articles/Mac/ssh_on_mac_os_x/
http://tech.kateva.org/2004/10/vnc-over-ssh-for-os-x.html

This setup is almost identical to what you'd accomplish with MobileMe and BackToMyMac, only better and less buggy.

It's also important to remember that you'll have to forward any ports you need from the AEBS to the computer. I prefer the SSH method because once you're secure, you can open up several other services without punching holes in your router's firewall.

A few more links from my bookmarks archive.

http://www.zaphu.com/2008/01/04/use...sktop-vnc-subversion-svn-and-firefox-traffic/ (this one is probably the best)
http://www.gontztechnologyservices....-os-x/tunneling-vnc-over-ssh-on-mac-os-x.html
http://www.panix.com/help/sw.macosx-ssh.html
 
jdechko said:
Yes, by installing the DynDNS client and inputting your DynDNS credentials into it, the program will automatically update your custom domain name (yourname.dyndns.org or whatever) with your external IP address from your ISP.

Then you need to specify port forwarding on your AEBS. If you wanted to run a web server, you'd forward port 80 to your MacBook's LAN IP address. Typing yourname.dyndns.org into a web browser would bring up your webpage, hosted on your machine.

You could also set up an FTP server on the MacBook (using built in sharing preferences, I believe) and use ftp://[I]yourname.dyndns.org[/I]. Be aware, though, that FTP is insecure and transmits login credentials over open waves. The better way to do this would be to enable "Remote Login" in the sharing preferences. This will create an SSH (secure shell) server on your MacBook, allowing you everything from terminal access (remote restart of the macbook) to SFTP (FTP, but with greater security) as well as remote VNC (screen sharing/remote desktop) capabilities.

Here are a few excellent guides to get you off in the right direction.

http://www.stocksy.co.uk/articles/Mac/ssh_on_mac_os_x/
http://tech.kateva.org/2004/10/vnc-over-ssh-for-os-x.html

This setup is almost identical to what you'd accomplish with MobileMe and BackToMyMac, only better and less buggy.

It's also important to remember that you'll have to forward any ports you need from the AEBS to the computer. I prefer the SSH method because once you're secure, you can open up several other services without punching holes in your router's firewall.

A few more links from my bookmarks archive.

http://www.zaphu.com/2008/01/04/use...sktop-vnc-subversion-svn-and-firefox-traffic/ (this one is probably the best)
http://www.gontztechnologyservices....-os-x/tunneling-vnc-over-ssh-on-mac-os-x.html
http://www.panix.com/help/sw.macosx-ssh.html
Click to expand...


Hey man, Thank you so much for the informative reply!

I downloaded CyberDuck and I put in my credentials, I can access all my files, and I don't have Apple's "Server Disk" mounted on my desktop, So I don't believe I'm running through Apple's buggy system.

I also set it up as a SFTP like you mentioned.

So far I think I got it working? I'm pretty good with computers, But I'm a total newbie when it comes to servers and code. :rolleyes:

I'll have my best friend download Cyberduck, and put in my credentials and see if he can log on from another wifi network. If he can then this is working perfectly.
 
coops said:
You could take a look at 'Opera Unite' - seems like a home web server option from your own (Opera) browser.

http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/an-introduction-to-opera-unite/


I've not tried it myself, but seems an interesting (free) option to look at.


Coops
Click to expand...


I'll definitely look into it!

Here's a question, I have my External Hard Drive's sharing options setup to ONLY ALLOW THESE USERS at which I have set it as "Me, My best friend and My computer's Admins" (I'm the only admin)

All of these accounts are password protected as well as using a different username to sign in.

Isn't that pretty safe? And like I said, When I hear back from my friend today to see if he can log into the 'server' then it will be doing exactly what I want it to do-


Also, I haven't been having any glitches with 'Apple's way of doing things' so... :rolleyes::confused:;)
 
I currently have a 550GB Lacie Rugged hard drive connected to my Airport Extreme base station and have been able to access this from anywhere in the world over a wireless network.

I admit that uploading or downloading to it can be quite slow, but I have never had any problems (other than taking a long time).
 
Limey77 said:
I currently have a 550GB Lacie Rugged hard drive connected to my Airport Extreme base station and have been able to access this from anywhere in the world over a wireless network.

I admit that uploading or downloading to it can be quite slow, but I have never had any problems (other than taking a long time).
Click to expand...

How exactly did you set that up?

If you don't mind sharing, Like what preferences did you have to set/etc?
 
I'll have to check when I get home and then let you know.

But if I remeber correctly I just set up to only allow users with the password to access it and then set my AEBS to broadcast globally using Bonjour.

I then saved the address of the AEBS and whenever I'm overseas I just use the goto function to 'goto' the Airport drive.

I'll check when I get home and let you know more details.

As I said before though, it can be very slow to upload or download.
 
Limey77 said:
I'll have to check when I get home and then let you know.

But if I remeber correctly I just set up to only allow users with the password to access it and then set my AEBS to broadcast globally using Bonjour.

I then saved the address of the AEBS and whenever I'm overseas I just use the goto function to 'goto' the Airport drive.

I'll check when I get home and let you know more details.

As I said before though, it can be very slow to upload or download.
Click to expand...


Cool~ Thank you so much! :)
 
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