Gaming Trying to build a home server

[Urza]

He stated he has one, and by default they block all incoming connections, so the right ports will need to be forwarded for anybody outside his home network to access the server.

Assuming you're referring to outside access for his website, port 80 is open by default on almost all consumer routers.

I've had multiple routers (linksys WRT54G and some ISP-supplied ones) and I've always had to forward the port to the correct computer.

What routers have you used?

The WRT54G for one, so clearly you were doing something wrong.

 

[Niles]

It would most definitely have to be opened for outside access. Assuming its purely for file access, standard protocol would be FTP, with a default port of 21 (you should really change it for private use).

Port 80 can't be open by default, because where does it go? When you do port forwarding you need to direct incoming port traffic to a specific local IP, otherwise how does your router know which local PC is the server?

Again, based on my previous suggestion, I'd recommend trying a more purpose specific distro. Without much linux knowledge using a standard linux distro is overkill, and as you are experiencing, has a bit of a learning curve. Give FreeNAS a go, its extremely easy and will accomplish everything you are seeking out of the box. Without the bloat of everything else.

 

[Urza]

It would most definitely have to be opened for outside access. Assuming its purely for file access, standard protocol would be FTP, with a default port of 21 (you should really change it for private use).

Port 80 can't be open by default, because where does it go? When you do port forwarding you need to direct incoming port traffic to a specific local IP, otherwise how does your router know which local PC is the server?

While that is true, generally you would have DDNS running on the router and pushing to the correct machine, if you're hosting on a consumer pipe.

 

[Rydian]

The WRT54G for one, so clearly you were doing something wrong.The manual doesn't mention port 80 (or any ports) being open by default, and it says this in the port forwarding section...
QUOTE6. I need to set up a server behind my Router and make it available to the public.
To use a server like a web, ftp, or mail server, you need to know the respective
port numbers they are using. For example, port 80 (HTTP) is used for web;
port 21 (FTP) is used for FTP, and port 25 (SMTP outgoing) and port 110
(POP3 incoming) are used for the mail server. You can get more information
by viewing the documentation provided with the server you installed. Follow
these steps to set up port forwarding through the Router’s web-based utility.

Which I'm taking to believe meaning port 80 is NOT open by default (which is in-line with what I've experienced)...

Did you have a DMZ set up, or were you using alternate firmware like Tomato or DD-WRT?
My model was a V6 with cut-back RAM so I was on the official firmware the whole time (updating as needed).

 

[Niles]

It would most definitely have to be opened for outside access. Assuming its purely for file access, standard protocol would be FTP, with a default port of 21 (you should really change it for private use).

Port 80 can't be open by default, because where does it go? When you do port forwarding you need to direct incoming port traffic to a specific local IP, otherwise how does your router know which local PC is the server?

While that is true, generally you would have DDNS running on the router and pushing to the correct machine, if you're hosting on a consumer pipe.

DDNS only gives you a static IP, it effects what address you connect to, nothing else. Port forwarding opens a port for incoming access on the router. In his environment you can assume hes going to have at least 2 computers behind his router, his current desktop/laptop he uses, and now his new file server, minimum.

Now this presents 2 local IP address, usually by default they will be 10.0.0.* or 192.168.1.* or 192.168.0.*. Local IPs that are inaccessible from the internet. So, the Router responds to the internet IP (could be forwarded from your DDNS provider) on a specific port, now the router needs to know where to direct this traffic within the local network. This is what port forwarding does, and this is why it is not done by default already. You need to specify all incoming traffic on X port is directly to X local IP to X port.

For example:

Port 21
Protocols TCP/UDP
Destination IP: 192.168.1.50 (assume thats what your local fileserver is for example)
Destination Port: 21

So anything hitting your internet IP on port 21 will be sent to 192.168.1.50 on port 21.

No router has port forwarded setup by default, because they can't guess where this traffic should be directed, not to mention it would be a security hazard if this was a default option in the first place.

Back on Topic though,

Assuming you want local shares accessible from Windows, Linux, and pretty much any OS, and you want FTP access from the internet to your files, FreeNAS provides this out of the box, and it can be configured without even having a monitor on your file server. It is your ideal solution.

 

[Urza]

DDNS only gives you a static IP, it effects what address you connect to, nothing else.

Most DDNS clients provide forwarding to local addresses.

 

[Niles]

DDNS only gives you a static IP, it effects what address you connect to, nothing else.

Most DDNS clients provide forwarding to local addresses.

DDNS clients are purely a method of redirecting a static IP to a dynamic IP, they have nothing to do with ports whatsoever. We'll have to agree to disagree because I don't feel like arguing.

 

[Rydian]

I've used DDNS as well, and it is just a method of linking a static name (such as rydian.isdigital.com) to an ever-changing IP, and they offer various clients for the PC that will update your IP as well.

I used it so I could access utorrent's remote control panel from outside my home to manage torrents (without having to check and memorize my current IP each morning before class) before this ISP got me NAT'd on their side so it seems I can't get access from outside at all, and I'm too lazy to call them and ask them to un-NAT me because they might think I'm doing something bad then. XD

 

[Pyrmon]

It would most definitely have to be opened for outside access. Assuming its purely for file access, standard protocol would be FTP, with a default port of 21 (you should really change it for private use).

Port 80 can't be open by default, because where does it go? When you do port forwarding you need to direct incoming port traffic to a specific local IP, otherwise how does your router know which local PC is the server?

While that is true, generally you would have DDNS running on the router and pushing to the correct machine, if you're hosting on a consumer pipe.

DDNS only gives you a static IP, it effects what address you connect to, nothing else. Port forwarding opens a port for incoming access on the router. In his environment you can assume hes going to have at least 2 computers behind his router, his current desktop/laptop he uses, and now his new file server, minimum.

Now this presents 2 local IP address, usually by default they will be 10.0.0.* or 192.168.1.* or 192.168.0.*. Local IPs that are inaccessible from the internet. So, the Router responds to the internet IP (could be forwarded from your DDNS provider) on a specific port, now the router needs to know where to direct this traffic within the local network. This is what port forwarding does, and this is why it is not done by default already. You need to specify all incoming traffic on X port is directly to X local IP to X port.

For example:

Port 21
Protocols TCP/UDP
Destination IP: 192.168.1.50 (assume thats what your local fileserver is for example)
Destination Port: 21

So anything hitting your internet IP on port 21 will be sent to 192.168.1.50 on port 21.

No router has port forwarded setup by default, because they can't guess where this traffic should be directed, not to mention it would be a security hazard if this was a default option in the first place.

Back on Topic though,

Assuming you want local shares accessible from Windows, Linux, and pretty much any OS, and you want FTP access from the internet to your files, FreeNAS provides this out of the box, and it can be configured without even having a monitor on your file server. It is your ideal solution.

Well, I'm already figuring out how to do it on Ubuntu Server, but thanks anyway.
Now I have to give my server a static LAN address. I think I did it, but I have no idea if it works. I have to do the port forwarding part next.

 

[Urza]

Well, I'm already figuring out how to do it on Ubuntu Server, but thanks anyway.
Now I have to give my server a static LAN address. I think I did it, but I have no idea if it works. I have to do the port forwarding part next.
If you force your DHCP client to renew the lease, it should get assigned the new IP.

CODEdhclient -r
dhclient

As root of course.

 

[Pyrmon]

Well, I'm already figuring out how to do it on Ubuntu Server, but thanks anyway.
Now I have to give my server a static LAN address. I think I did it, but I have no idea if it works. I have to do the port forwarding part next.
If you force your DHCP client to renew the lease, it should get assigned the new IP.

CODEdhclient -r
dhclient

As root of course.

Ok, did that, now I need to forward the ports 22 and 80. But I have no idea how and portforward.com is not very helpful.

 

[Magsor]

Well I wanted to do the same as you until i found this
Well no hassle work right of the box just have to setup your router the same way you do with another server.
On top of that it does UPNP (for ps3 for example)
I paid 179$ at costco for 2 TB. well its an avenue to consider
Alternatively the new (gigabits?) routers have a USB port that will let you plug in a Hard drive and do the same. I don't know if they work as good as the WD live in term of SMB, FTP and UPNP but since most in most store you can return stuff without questions asked within a month you have plenty of time to test them. Here an example but there many more

 

[Originality]

Gigabit routers and routers featuring USB ports are nothing new - they've been around for a few years now. The USB port is simply to add to the network standard USB devices, such as a flash drive, hard drive, printer, scanner or webcam. Some routers do feature NAS-like features (such as print, multimedia and download servers), but it's not widely adopted so you have to look from router to router to find out which ones do.

uPNP should also be standard across nearly all routers now, to allow port forwarding on demand (applications like uTorrent can connect to the router and automatically open up a port for its use).

 

[Pyrmon]

Now my server is online with a firewall(shorewall) set up. I can access the default web page of apache(the "It Works" page). Now what? I want to be able to stream my stuff in my web browser, preferably in some kind of simple-ass website. Any ideas?

 

[Urza]

Now my server is online with a firewall(shorewall) set up. I can access the default web page of apache(the "It Works" page). Now what? I want to be able to stream my stuff in my web browser, preferably in some kind of simple-ass website. Any ideas?

Did you setup Samba?

 

[Pyrmon]

Now my server is online with a firewall(shorewall) set up. I can access the default web page of apache(the "It Works" page). Now what? I want to be able to stream my stuff in my web browser, preferably in some kind of simple-ass website. Any ideas?

Did you setup Samba?

Not yet. I need to?

 

[Pyrmon]

I set up samba but can't access my server from my windows machine, other than using WinSCP. ANd how do I stream stuff from the server?

 

[Urza]

I set up samba but can't access my server from my windows machine, other than using WinSCP. ANd how do I stream stuff from the server?

Streaming can be as simple as mounting the Samba directory on the client and opening as if with a local file.

 

[Pyrmon]

And how do I do that?

 

[Urza]

And how do I do that?
Should be able to type the server's IP directly in Explorer's location bar.

CODE//192.168.1.5/