Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

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jonny-come-lately
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Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

Post by jonny-come-lately »

My situation:

I just finished an extensive home remodel and I would like to share
videos I took of this project with friends and relatives that would
allow them to access my PC to download these files.

My preferred option is to send a download link to each person
that would ask for a password, or a password and user ID which
would be given to them in advanced.

I would like to have an access restriction to this file only, and as
I send more links, these would have the same restrictions.

I’m not interested in having a dedicated server PC because I have
a Dynamic IP address, so I would only use the server when needed.

Not interested in web file sharing hosting services; whereas, I have
a 1Gb plan, so speed isn’t a problem.

My operating system is Linux Mint 20.2 Uma 64-bit.

A Terminal based program would be okay, but I would like to keep
it as simple as possible. Open Source is an absolute must.

Thanks

John
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mikeflan
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

Post by mikeflan »

Hi. I would suggest a shared hosting service from GoDaddy, or whoever.
Or a simpler, perhaps free option is a cloud account.

Your way of doing it is also an option, but it adds a whole lot of complexity.
Offcenter
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Location: New Jersey, USA

Re: Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

Post by Offcenter »

I have a Raspberry Pi computer here, set up as a web server with all my photos on it.
Since, like you, I also have a dynamic ip address, the server is accessed through one of the free ip forwarding services.
A 64 gig thumb drive plugged into the Raspberry Pi serves as the repository for my photos and videos.
I run Lighttpd as the server software, but you could just as easily run Apache or Nginx.
If I want anyone to see my photos, I just email them the link to my server.
The Pi runs 24/7 and uses almost no electricity. It's been running for years and has been trouble free.
George, High in the hills of Jersey
mikeflan
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

Post by mikeflan »

Sounds great. I use PiWigo on my shared hosting service, but I have only done pictures. I suspect videos might work too, but I'm not sure.
Offcenter
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Location: New Jersey, USA

Re: Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

Post by Offcenter »

Yes, videos work too, provided that your upload speed is fast enough.
I have several videos on my home server and friends say that they have
viewed them with no trouble at all.
George, High in the hills of Jersey
SimonPeter
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Re: Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

Post by SimonPeter »

Another option may be an encrypted container in some (possibly untrusted) cloud service.
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axrusar
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Re: Need help setting up a home file server to allow access from the web

Post by axrusar »

Jonny.
what you need is a Nextcloud server to do all that you mentioned and much more. It gets complex to setup but there are very easy to follow full blown setups via scripts on github.
Now you mentioned serving video. You need to take some measurements of your internet connection upload speeds if you plan to serve from home, and also encoding the videos in the proper compressed format to reduce file size as much as possible. It requires more planning and setup than what it sounds like. There are a gazillion of options to do it.
PM if you need to hire someone to set it up for you.
Linux Mint Una Cinnamon 20.3 Kernel: 5.15.x | Quad Core I7 4.2Ghz | 24GB Ram | 1TB NVMe | Intel Graphics
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