Connecting to my samba server

[amarek]

So I have a samba server setup running on Ubuntu server 12.04. I can connect to it anywhere over the home network. Now I've setup port forwarding and it's on the default port 445. I can connect to it via the router's IP but still only when I'm on the same network. I tried setting up an Apache server on the same computer and router and I can can access the web page from any other network. Help please, am I missing something? a samba config maybe?

[bab1]

So I have a samba server setup running on Ubuntu server 12.04. I can connect to it anywhere over the home network. Now I've setup port forwarding and it's on the default port 445. I can connect to it via the router's IP but still only when I'm on the same network. I tried setting up an Apache server on the same computer and router and I can can access the web page from any other network. Help please, am I missing something? a samba config maybe?

Samba protocols are generally not permitted over the Internet. You need to use a VPN to access Samba outside of your own LAN.

[amarek]

Samba protocols are generally not permitted over the Internet. You need to use a VPN to access Samba outside of your own LAN.

Okay, thank you for your help. Now since I really don't want to use a VPN is there another type of file server you could suggest?

[garcianc2003]

You could try to setup a SSH server. There are clients for Windows (i.e. Swish, WinSCP) that will allow easy file access with drag-and-drop functionality.

[prodigy_]

Samba protocols are generally not permitted over the Internet.

Not exactly. :) There's nothing about the SMB protocol that would prevent it from working over the Internet. Some providers block default ports utilized by SMB (such as 445) but you can work around that - e.g. by forwarding different ports from your router.

Still, I agree that SSH/SFTP is a much better idea. You can also use SSH to forward samba ports over a secure tunnel:
http://simonholywell.com/post/2009/0...sh-tunnel.html

[bab1]

Not exactly. There's nothing about the SMB protocol that would prevent it from working over the Internet. Some providers block default ports utilized by SMB (such as 445) but you can work around that - e.g. by forwarding different ports from your router.

Still, I agree that SSH/SFTP is a much better idea. You can also use SSH to forward samba ports over a secure tunnel:
http://simonholywell.com/post/2009/0...sh-tunnel.html

Browsing for shares is the only reason to use Samba. You can't do that easily over the Internet without resorting to using a VPN. As you say it's easier to just use SSH/SFTP.