File sharing

[TedatTNT]

I'm looking for a simple method to accomplish some basic file sharing and as of yet I'm a little stuck.  I'm somewhat new to unRAID and I am running 5.0 beta 7 (should probably upgrade to rc 8 soon).

 

1st and most importantly - I want to host some files and have them be accessible from the web - an external site will call some image files (for example) by a URL that points to my router and then to my unraid server, which will, in turn, serve them up.

 

2nd, and less important, I'll like to be able to provide someone outside my network a login/password so that can upload a file to my unraid server.  However, I'd prefer to NOT use FTP and I'm unaware of alternatives.

 

Thanks,

 

Ted

[TedatTNT]

For the first one, it seems that I could install a web server -- is that the best way to go or is there a simpler solution?

 

For the second one, it seems only FTP is a solution, so I'll probably try to integrate a Dropbox solution.

 

Any thoughts?

[JonathanM]

Unraid is not designed to be accessed from the internet in general, it's meant to be used as a local network storage device, or NAS. If you open ports to the internet, you will likely be hacked. If you don't understand what is involved, or the risks, you would be better off looking at a different operating system as your base, one that is designed to be exposed to the internet.

[TedatTNT]

Ahhh, this is disappointing.  I was under the impression that since it runs on Linux Slackware, I could make it do about anything - even securely.

 

I suppose I may need to consider WHS or something else - any recommendations?

 

Thanks,

 

Ted

[JonathanM]

Ahhh, this is disappointing.  I was under the impression that since it runs on Linux Slackware, I could make it do about anything - even securely.

You can. But the stock configuration is as far from secure as can be, and if you are asking questions about how to make it secure, chances are you are going to miss something. You need to pretty much already know the right questions to ask and the risks involved to make the changes necessary. There have been major changes made to the slackware base that make it much less secure so unraid is easier to use in a home network. The management interface for unraid was never meant to be exposed to the internet.

[TedatTNT]

Ah, okay.  Well, I'd never intended to expose the management interface - but instead open a particular share to the outside world.  I found the AddOn that provides web server functionality and I'm guessing that it would accommodate this, but was hoping there was a simpler approach.

 

In regard to the second question - regarding providing client logins - I see that I can do that with an FTP client, but am uncomfortable with two things:  insecure transmission of login/password and the added complication for users needing to set up a client. For these two reasons, I'm leaning strongly toward DropBox as an intermediary. 

 

I have experience installing, hosting, managing websites on Windows architecture, including IIS, Exchange Server, ISA, MS SQL, etc.  I have worked for years as a Network Admin.  However, my experience with unRAID is minimal, I've been running a server for work as a storage solution for dozens of projects for about five years.  Further, while I have installed and operated RedHat and other Linux builds in the past, I'm not much more than a newbie in my knowlege of Linux.

 

I neglected to mention any experience along with my questions, and tried to ask them simplistically, so that any who respond would not presume that I know more than I do about unRAID or Linux/Slackware.  I really know almost nothing about Slackware in particular, other than it is a build of Linux and is highly configurable and adaptable via add-ons.

 

That said, if I want to "expose" a share in the same manner that a web server would expose its "images" directory, is there a simpler yet still secure method for this than the web server add on?

 

Thanks,

 

Ted