How Do I Connect to Thecus NAS N2200 via web?

[edrooney]

Hi there

I am TOTALLY new to the whole NAS thing!

I have purchased a Thecus NAS N2200 and 2x 1TB SATA drives to go in it.

I think I have set everything up as I should and have successfully been able to log in to the control panel through the 192.168.*.* route... BUT...

How do I access the drives from a remote location via the web or software package?

I have NO idea?! There is nothing in the manual to assist and apologies in advance for such a basic question!

I'm a learner !

Thanks for any help

[jimag]

Hi edrooney,

Starting from the basics ....:
- in order for a device to see another device, the so called "provider" have to expose a so called "service".
- in the case of a NAS device, the most usual services are so called "folder sharing" provided through Samba services or NFS services - therefore you have to check this services are running on your NAS (especially Samba)
- for a "consumer" or a "client" to acces your "provider", the consumer need to know to work with the same service as the provider is offering - usually no problem from a PC
- to acces a remote device providing folder sharing services you can use a reference like "\\<host_name>\<share_name>". meaning, if you named your NAS in the configuration area like "NAS_Storage" and you want to access a shared folder called "NAS_Public" you have to use a path like: "\\NAS_Storage\NAS_Public". So, if you are using Windows just enter this path into the address bar of the Explorer (without quotes ) and you should be able to see the content of the NAS_Public folder. You can further map a shared folder to a drive letter (like C: or D: for local disks and DVDs you can map for example S: to your \\Nas_Storage\NAS_Public folder).

You normally do not need to access your NAS through Web, like you do not acces your C: or D: drive through Web ... . If you really waht to access you NAS through Web then you need to start other services like MediaServer or how is called.

Hope this clarify alittle bit the concepts and help you using your NAS. If not just come back with your questions.

Best regards,
jimag

[tugman]

jimag - I think your post refers to accessing the drive from your home network, whereas I think the questioner was asking how to access via the internet from remote locations. If someone could do a simple write up explaining the process I would be grateful.
I am still unsure of whether we can do a remote access via a web browser, or if it has to be an ftp client.
I am guessing it's a matter of choosing a port, setting up http port forwarding in your router to your NAS, and a accessing via webdisk, but I am unsure.
Any one done it yet, and can explain please?

[sayuti]

Hi.. i am not computer expert but very much interested this NAS

yes..i already succed in accesing this NAS remotely via browser
yes ..just choose the port and port forward thru router...and use DDNS to fix the ip

u must reserved the port 80 or 443 for the secure one

[hlan]

Correct - here a more verbose version

NAS N2200
--------------
--> Systems Network
--> --> HTTP / Web Disk
--> --> --> Enable WebDisk (HTTP) Support - default port is 80
--> --> --> Secure WebDisk (Secure HTTP) 0 default port is 443

These ports are the standard ports for http and https respectively.There is no reason to change them. The difference between http and https is that https sends the data in clear and the https protocol encrypts it.

--> --> --> --> Apply (don't forget this)

Now, if in your web browser you type http:// <NAS IP address> then you get the login screen of the Web Disk module.

Should you have changed the port number, then you type http:// <NAS IP address>:xx where xx is the custom port number that you chose.

Modem/Router
-------------------
1) First ensure that your NAS always gets the same IP address from your router. On my router I can associate the MAC address of the N2200 with an IP address.
2) At the port forwarding rules (sometimes firewall settings) you need to forward (associate) the ports selected above to the IP address of your NAS.
3) On the router status screen, read out the external IP address of your router.

Now you could connect from the internet to your NAS by typing http://<Router IP address> - when the request arrives at the router it will be forwarded to the respective port at the NAS, and you will get the Web disk login screen.

DDNS (Dynamic DNS)
---------------------------
Problem: Some ISP assign only temporary IP addresses to the router. So next time the IP address changes you need to go and look it up again at the router status screen. This is not very practical for you, and impossible for somebody external who has not access to your router.

Solution: there are free services, like dyndns.org where you can create a "name" that is associated with your routers IP address, and updated every time when the router changes/updates its IP address. So with this service the only thing for you to remember is the "name" that you created.

To create this feature
1) Create an account at a DDNS service
2) chose your "name"
3) Update your router under Dynamic DNS

Note of caution:
--------------------
With the web interface the administrator account and all users are available to login. If you did not change the admin password or if you got user accounts with weak passwords then any stranger who guessed your IP address could get a GO at your personal files on the NAS.
In my opinion this feature is interesting but its implementation is not secure.

If you use https then your web browser gives warnings about the certificate and exceptions but this is not an issue, you can waive them and go ahead.