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Map a drive over the internet

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by jay eckles 1 view

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Is it possible to map as a drive a share that is located on another computer somewhere on the internet (assuming you have administrative privledges on both the machine mapping the drive and the machine providing the share)?

If it is possible, what type of user authentication exists? Is it typical "connect as" NT user authentication?

Is this a feature built into NT or does it require third-party software?

Finally, again if this is possible, exactly how do I create the share and map it (step by step instructions, please). Please include any details regarding the user accounts that need to be addressed.

The purpose of this is to allow multiple users in multiple physical locations access to the same drive; specifically, users must be able to open an Office document, edit it, and save it directly to the central server. The physical locations are not connected through a network except by the internet. Services like XDrive have proven unreliable, costly, and limited. A web-based solution (i.e., a check-out/check-in via file downloads and uploads) is undesirable for the client, although this solution is already developed.

Thank you, and please email if you have additional questions: j.eckles@computer.org.

Jay Eckles
www.jayeckles.com

6 replies

by stillatit

For better or worse, yes it is possible, and it does NOT need admin rights. Most system administrators, I suspect, automatically block the ports involved at the firewall, since leaving them open means that anyone outside can hack at your drives.

To do this with some degree of secuirty, use a virtual private network (vpn). To do this, the admin installs PPTP on a server, and enables the pptp protocol ports. Normal practice is to have the server require an encrypted password to authenticate, and to encrypt the data path.

The software to make all of this happen is included with NT server, and with all versions of Windows from 95 on, although you may need to download updates, especially the update for 128 bit encryption, from the Microsoft site. There are also several third-party vpn solutions available.

A user connects to the vpn server by double-clicking an icon for a dial-up connection (which uses the vpn connection instead of a modem). They supply user name, password and domain (which can be saved on thier machine). Once the vpn is authenticated, it is as if they are on your local network (but slower).

Good luck.

by shmaltz

Answer one answered it all. I would just like to add, that editing files over a VPN, using a dial up connection to connect to the itnernet is going to be very very sssssssllllloooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww.

by jay eckles

Well, I tried commenting the answer below, but it doesn't seem to post. I've probably inadvertantly sent a half-dozen emails to the poster.

In any case, the first answer was helpful. The only thing that I still lack is a detailed explanation ofsetting up the VPN on the server. If there is an online resource with this information that someone could point me to, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

Jay

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