Sharing a folder online

I do some tech support of a small business near me; usual stuff, install this, fix that, why is my laptop so slow even though i have Vista etc. Anyway, the have a shared folder on one of the PC's so that all revelat business files are avilable to all pc's on the network.

However a couple of the emploies who now work from home and on the road need to be able to access the folder while not in the office. I'm looking for ideas or methods of how i could share this folder securly over the net but without having it too difficult for the users to access.

SFTP
Dropbox <--dunno how secure this is.

invest in a riverbed.

They could use VPN to get into the company.

If they dont have that capability currently, they could use something like gotomeeting. Just setup a machine in the office for them to connect to.

I agree with CGR, putting a VPN on the firewall is the best way and most secure to get to files that they need. in this way i just set the computer up on the domain and then have them use a shortcut to "dial in" to the server. This way they can use their computer just as you set it up and they don't know what fun stuff is going on in the background. Another way would be to do the same connection to a Terminal Server, i don't think this will be as nice for them.

http://openvpn.net/



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Another option is to set up a remote desktop application (such as logmein pro) which allows file transfers. They use SSH so it's secure.

The clients would need to log on to the computer with the files (or a computer with access to the files) and either read them there or copy/paste them to their computer. There are also other options file transfer options that logmein pro gives you which I'm not familiar with.

The best way however would be to set up a VPN (like everyone else is saying) and map the folder with the files.

There are a number of free ways to set up a VPN. If you have a server, the OS probably has some kind of VPN service. I believe Windows Server comes with it built in and Ubuntu Server needs an additional download (which is free and easy to use). If you don't have a server I suggest you get one as a file sever at least. You can also make it the VPN server then.

There are a number of free dynamic DNS services, so a domain name / IP address won't be a problem.