[javadesigner]

Hi:

I would like to access a hard drive or folder on my
PC from OS X over the 'net. Both are on T-1's (so
speed not an issue) but are on different networks/ISP's.

As I see it, I can:

a) enable file sharing on the windows box and then access
the shared drive from the mac via the mac's ability to
use windows file sharing.

b) get remote desktop client for the mac to access the PC. But
this allows me to manipulate the PC itself, not transparently
open shared files via bbedit or whatever.

So option (a) is what I want.

Thing is, the PC is running windows 2k (pro, not server) and
I have heard that starting file sharing on PC's (and making
them world viewable) is a bad idea.

Is there any way to securely share the PC's drive so that
only the mac (which has a static IP) can access it ?


Best regards,

--j

[midwinter]

Originally posted by javadesigner:
Hi:

I would like to access a hard drive or folder on my
PC from OS X over the 'net. Both are on T-1's (so
speed not an issue) but are on different networks/ISP's.

As I see it, I can:

a) enable file sharing on the windows box and then access
the shared drive from the mac via the mac's ability to
use windows file sharing.

b) get remote desktop client for the mac to access the PC. But
this allows me to manipulate the PC itself, not transparently
open shared files via bbedit or whatever.

So option (a) is what I want.

Thing is, the PC is running windows 2k (pro, not server) and
I have heard that starting file sharing on PC's (and making
them world viewable) is a bad idea.

Is there any way to securely share the PC's drive so that
only the mac (which has a static IP) can access it ?


Best regards,

--j

You should just be able to enable web sharing on the Mac and then access it merely by typing in the IP address in the address bar.

The PC is a different story.

Do you want to access the PC from the mac? If that's the case, and if the PC (I assume by your omission of thsi information) has a dynamic IP, you should go to dyndns.org and set up and account and download the little client program they have. It'll give you a free domain (yourspace.dyndns.org or whatever), and it'll monitor your IP address, uploading any changes. I used this method to access my Mac from work, and it was just fine.

Counter-question: I have a PC with win2k, and although I've enabled file sharing and the guest account and even created an account for myself, I can't access it from my mac on the local LAN. Any ideas?

Cheers
Scott

[DeathMan]

If possible, I would suggest getting an FTP server going on your windows box. Transmit (FTP client) will let you edit text docs in BBEdit, or I think you can even open psds over the net if you want.

check tucows.com for some ftp servers. there are several. Stupid Win2K (non-pro) has no FTP built in.

Yet another reason to run a mac. free web server, free ftp server, free mail server, free dns server, anything you want, if you're just willing to set it up.

[javadesigner]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
If possible, I would suggest getting an FTP server going on your windows box. Transmit (FTP client) will let you edit text docs in BBEdit, or I think you can even open psds over the net if you want.

Yeah, but FTP is not as seamless as browsing
my PC's hard drive from the mac finder. I
can do that if I mount the PC's hard drive on
the mac via PC file sharing (SAMBA internally
I am guessing).

I don't know. Poking around, I found
www.snapgear.com which makes small
and cheap VPN devices. This may be the way
to go if I want to turn on PC file sharing on
the windows box yet only allow the mac to
see the shared files....

[dawho9]

You could always setup Webdav on the PC and then connect to it through a browser. Plus - I think there is a way to mount a webdav as a volume (share) on the desktop, but I'm not in front of my mac to test.

dw9