Cross platform remote access anyone?

Here's a problem I'm having a hard time solving. When I'm on the road I sometimes need to retrieve a file that's on one of the computers in the office. Usually it's a request for a high resolution image file that I need to process and deliver. When I was all PC I could use Laplink Gold, and had access to every hard drive in the place, so long as I had an internet connection. I'm finding it harder to get the same capability now that I have a mixed household.

I want something that doesn't require that I learn what VPN and SSH and tunnels mean. There's a whole jungle of jargon around this subject, and I can barely figure out what these programs do, much less set them up.  Who knows what would work for me?

On a different note, networking is turning out to be a real problem. Not with the Windows machines--they see the Mac and the Mac sees them just fine.  The two Macs usually can't find each other, and when they sometimes do (and only through a network cable), it's usually just one way and it doesn't stick. Everyone I ask just says, "Well, that's not how it's supposed to be with Macs," and  shrugs. I need a home visit. Who knows someone?

Comments

[Jeff Carlson]

It sounds really odd that the Macs wouldn't see each other. That's definitely not "how it's supposed to be." Unfortunately, without more specifics I wouldn't be able to diagnose. What you might look into is finding an Apple consultant (ie, a person who doesn't work for Apple but is trained in Apple stuff).

http://consultants.apple.com/

As for connecting to your PC at home, I have no experience with this whatsoever, but I saw that Microsoft released Remote Desktop Connection for Mac last week; it might do what you need.

http://db.tidbits.com/article/9091

Sorry I can only partially help, but I'm sure others will jump in!

[rodger newbold]

I have been using a mix for years, with mostly MAC environment. I now use windows XP on my Itel based MAC's and a great product called DoubleVault.com . Go to the site and get a free 30 day box. I store my best photos on line and can retrieve them from anywhere.

Works for me.

[Doug Plummer]

For some people this is a great solution. I'm afraid Doublevault and other such on-line storage services aren't of much use to a pro shooter however. A given assignment might produce 50-100gb. My archive now is about 3 terabytes. My home disks are the only viable place to store it.

[Steve]

Is it crucial for you to back up your data to your home machine from the road? I have a 180GB LaCie drive and I just download all my images to that. When I get back, I move them over.

Realistically, the Internet bandwidth is nowhere near where it would have to be if you planned to back up a day's shoot over the wire.

[Doug Plummer]

I travel with four or more of those drives, so back up is not the issue. It's the getting a single file from the home machine when a client can't wait for me to get back that needs solving.

[Michael A Shapiro]

Hi Doug,
Go to your desktop System Preferences/File Sharing, check the box by Personal File Sharing, Then, highlight Personal File Sharing which will give you the address of your computer.

Go to your laptop and type the above-mentioned address into the Safari browser. If it works, copy the address onto a sticky and voilà.

[Trevor Hambric]

Doug,
I use OSXvnc (for Virtual Network Computing) on my Mac and TightVNC on my Windows NT laptop to control one from the other. These variants of VNC are open source and work very much like Remote Desktop. The complications of a dynamic IP and getting through your router's firewall I'm not sure about.

Not sure what you have for NAS, but the Seagate Mirra (http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/external/mirra_personal_server) provides secured internet access to your files as part of its package (perhaps the simplest solution).

[Kjell H A]

Hi, just a suggestion to get the Macs find each others on the local network. don't be confused if I get some of the menu choices slightly wrong as I personally use a Norwegian OS X installation.

1. Go to the Apple menu and System preferences.

2. Select Network

3. Select the network connection you plan to use (Airport). Double click that choice

4. Select the Apple Talk tab.

5. Tick off "Activate AppleTalk"

6. Automatic configuration.

Now all the macs on your network should show up when you select "Network" in Finder.

If the "Activate AppleTalk" checkbox was already checked, then I don't know why you have problems.

[Aaron Strasburg]

I was going to suggest VNC, but that only addresses viewing your desktop, not accessing files. You can work around that by enabling ssh/scp but you still have to deal with dynamic IP addresses and such. You could also conceivably email yourself a file that way.

The upcoming Leopard release will have a feature called "Back to my Mac" that will work through .Mac ($99/yr!) and allow you remote access to your Mac drives. That doesn't solve your problem today, but it does sound like an answer in a few months.

[connor roberts]

You best bet is to set up file sharing on the Mac, then on the pc just map it as a drive, ('map network drive'), then use logmein.com, and set up just the PC with the free software...

you see if you can access the PC, then you can access all the Macs' files because you will have the mapped drives in your "my computer" on the pc.

takes 5 minutes, it's secure, and it's free for life.

after you've mapped the mac's to network drives on the PC, just go to logmein.com, make a free account, and use the "logmein free" version, works flawlessly for me.