Bought new MB Pro, Best way to remote into file server outside local network?

[jdl8422]

I am selling my Mac Pro since I just purchased a new MacBook Pro. I have a hackintosh that I built to act as a TM and file server. It mostly hold my itunes and Design Files. What is the best way to be able to remote into the file server when I am not on my local network. Also, a tutorial would be great since this is my first time doing this. Thanks

 

[JGruber]

A few different ways, one with LogMeIn, and another with an Airport Extreme Base Station.

The AEBS will allow your home network to be visible to your MBP when on the road, depending on if the network your on (outside of your home) has the ports open.

I do this all the time from work. I can do remote TM backups, access my AEBS harddrive, and connect to my wife's MB when I'm away, works flawlessly.

Of course you will need a MobileMe account to do all of the above listed. With the exception of LogMeIn.

 

[jdl8422]

I can do a MobileMe Account. My file server has a couple of Hard Drives in it. They are setup as JBOD not a RAID. My ideal solution would be to have those hard drives show up in my finder along with the MB pro Hard Drive, just like when Im on my local network.

 

[chown33]

Set it up as a WebDAV server. The Finder can mount WebDAV servers as disks on the desktop; it's what an iDisk is.

Google the terms: webdav server mac os x

The top hit focuses on OmniFocus, but the WebDAV-server setup is general-purpose. Other articles explain WebDAV further; don't stop reading after one article.

You may also need to configure your local router (cable-modem, DSL-modem, etc.) for port-forwarding. How to do that depends on exactly which router and network service you have.

Finally, make sure that your ISP Terms Of Service allow a server.

 

[JGruber]

I can do a MobileMe Account. My file server has a couple of Hard Drives in it. They are setup as JBOD not a RAID. My ideal solution would be to have those hard drives show up in my finder along with the MB pro Hard Drive, just like when Im on my local network.

The MobileMe and AEBS setup will do this exactly, best part is, it just works out of the box!

 

[foshizzle]

or, you could do it free and not have to worry about something not being compatible with MobileMe. And have everything completely encrypted.

Enable "remote login' on the hackintosh. It is in sys. prefs, sharing. Make sure your user is enabled. To test it locally, get the IP of the hackintosh or use it's local domain name, open terminal.app on your macbook pro (spotlight it), and type this:
assuming your user name is bob and the IP is 192.168.1.10,

ssh bob@192.168.1.10

If you want to use the domain name to keep it simple, use this

ssh bob@hackintosh.local

it will prompt for you password, type in your password for the hackintosh.

if it worked, you'll see a prompt with the hackintosh's domain name and your name. just type exit and close terminal.

Now, what kind of router do you have? Figure out how to open ports on the router and open port 22 for the local IP of the hackintosh.

Then figure out your public IP address at home, and possibly sign up for DYNDNS.com to keep updated with it if you don't have a static public IP.

assuming your public IP is 98.234.124.232 (chosen at random), from anywhere but your house open back up the terminal.app, and type this:

ssh bob@98.234.124.232

if you get in it is a success. Type exit, but keep terminal open. Now do this to map the time machine drive:

ssh -L 548:localhost:5480 bob@98.234.124.232

type password. If it worked, go to the finder on your MBP, hit command-K, type afp://localhost:5480 hit enter
you may be prompted for username/password.

try it out. now you can backup. Plus everything you do is encrypted because it is sent over SSH.