Hosting a VPN for friends and family

[PicodeGallo]

I'm not very familiar with networking, but I know a little, so keep that in mind. I would like to host a VPN to share and receive files such as family photos. From what I've read, a VPN would be simple & secure way to do this. Basically, I would be the host, since I usually have my computer on. I would also like to set permissions so each person has access to only certain things. How would I do this?

I use Windows 7 64 Ultimate and they would be using XP, Vista, and 7. If this is really simple, a good link or explanation would be very helpful. Any additional insight on making this efficient would be much appreciated, as I've never attempted this. My parents pretty much only know how to use the internet (they're old), so keeping this easy for them would be great. I'm thinking that a link to 'their' folder on my computer would be easy enough without having to use additional programs. My friends are much more knowledgeable.

Thank you! :D

[Moffetts]

FTP, not VPN, right? Technically a VPN could get you the same end result, but an FTP would work better.

[PicodeGallo]

As long as they can place their files on my computer and I could set permissions as to what they have access to, that would likely work as well.

[thideras]

Would something like DropBox work better?

[PicodeGallo]

Would something like DropBox work better?

I have no idea. I don't know much about this stuff. No additional programs for users. Is a VPN really that bad of an idea? I simply want to extend a portion of my LAN securely.

Edit: And I don't want to spend money on a new program. 2gb for DropBox free version isn't going to cut it. My camera can burn through 2gb in seconds.

[thideras]

A VPN can be difficult to setup. What about Hamachi? I've never used it, but I've heard it is easy to get a VPN running with that.

[TempliNocturnus]

For your needs, a DropBox account would probably be the easiest and most economical solution.

Basically, you and each of your family members could create an account giving each of you your own space. The DropBox client creates a folder on your computer in which the contents are automatically synced to your space on DropBox. You can have a public folder in which everyone has read access to, then you can create shares and invite specific individuals to them. Individuals invited to a share would then be able to access files you save there, as well as upload their content to the share.

[gangaskan]

you could fire up a Virtual machine or even install Alfresco on a box.


its a share point like design where users can put files, documents, pics.... etc you can check files in, out, etc.....

check out http://bitnami.org/stack/alfresco

[Mooyo]

I'll second/third the Dropbox recommendation. Setting up a VPN just to transfer via FTP or some other method is a lot of work when you can get it all done with Dropbox in a few minutes.

[DreamerBrian]

There's also Amazon's CloudDrive. It provides 5 gigs of free space, plus premium packages if you want to pay.

Brian

[I.M.O.G.]

For what you describe, dropbox won't work well - the space limitations are too small, same for any other "free" service like that.

Dropbox does fit the bill for simplicity and user friendliness.

What you need is to setup a webserver on your PC, configure your router to forward port 80 to your machine, setup the "share" in your webroot, setup a page allowing people to upload their own files/pictures, and setup dyndns.

Then you just email the URL to family, give them the password to access the site, and tell them how to access the stuff.

To make this happen, you probably want to tackle one part at a time:

1. Setup a webserver on your PC
2. Configure port forwarding on your router so you can access the webserver from the internet
3. Configure the webserver so it shares the stuff you want it to, has a password for access (htaccess), and accepts uploads
4. Setup Dyndns so users can use a nice URL and you don't have to send your IP address out every time it changes

Getting through that is probably easiest by starting a thread for each section, and getting whatever help you may need to make each part happen.

[gangaskan]

For what you describe, dropbox won't work well - the space limitations are too small, same for any other "free" service like that.

Dropbox does fit the bill for simplicity and user friendliness.

What you need is to setup a webserver on your PC, configure your router to forward port 80 to your machine, setup the "share" in your webroot, setup a page allowing people to upload their own files/pictures, and setup dyndns.

Then you just email the URL to family, give them the password to access the site, and tell them how to access the stuff.

To make this happen, you probably want to tackle one part at a time:

1. Setup a webserver on your PC
2. Configure port forwarding on your router so you can access the webserver from the internet
3. Configure the webserver so it shares the stuff you want it to, has a password for access (htaccess), and accepts uploads
4. Setup Dyndns so users can use a nice URL and you don't have to send your IP address out every time it changes

Getting through that is probably easiest by starting a thread for each section, and getting whatever help you may need to make each part happen.


thats what i was thinking, i do like Alfresco and have been playing around with it for a few months. i actually swapped over to this platform because i like it so much.