Creating your own cloud for remote access
Perhaps you are like me and like the cloud things with some reservations. For example I wouldn’t put any personal document on any cloud. (Even if encrypted knowing how powerful are the cloud these days.)
At the same time, having dedicated ftp server is expensive and waste energy.
So what is my own solution? Personally I like to have my whole computer accessible at all the time, with having to pay for it running all day. So I went this configuration:
Wake On LAN (AKA as WOL) + Free DNS server
This is the best of all worlds to me because it can shut down my computer and send a magic packet to wake it up as needed. I can be anywhere in the world and within 30 sec, I remote boot my computer, access my file and shut off I back after.
If you want to try the same solution here is how to do it:
Requirement:
1-Wake On LAN compatible computer connected via network cable (no wifi)
2-Wake On LAN and DNS compatible router (It as to support either broadcasting or Mac Binding. If you don’t have one, I was successful with D-Link and Linksys so I can recommend these particularly. Be aware that some brand label WOL compatible, but all they do is permit port 9 to flow, but doesn’t necessary support binding or DNS. )
3-Wake on LAN application or web site. (Personally I use this web site: http://www.depicus.com and “Wake on lan” app on Android by mafro)
Configuration:
1-Activate the Wake on LAN in your bios. This will let your network card running in the background while your computer is turn off.
2-In the router either:
Bind an IP to the mac address to the concerned computer.
Forward port 9 to this IP address
Or
Broadcast all data on port 9 to all IPs. (This is a special IP and is often referred as 192.168.0.255 or 192.168.0.0 depending on your router and/or subnet mask.)
3-If you doesn’t have a static IP address, subscribe to a DNS server. I use http://www.noip.com/ because it is supported natively by my router and it is free. Every time my IP change, my router sends an update request to this server. When I need to access my computer, instead of having to remember my IP, I can just type a nice hostname like myhostname.no-ip.org.
4-In your OS enable remote connections and add your user in the list of allowed user to remote connects. It is also known as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
5-Unlock and forward the port in your router for the remote desktop. For Microsoft that is port 3389.
Note: If you have multiple machines, you need to use different port number on the internet side. As example: 10 for WOL and 3390 for RDP. On the side of your network, the port as to remain the same however.
Testing your setup:
1-Try to wake on LAN your computer within your network. This removes the possible router misconfiguration in the loop if it doesn’t work on the first time.
2-Next, ping your hostname from outside of internet and make sure the IP address match yours.
3-Finally try the whole sequence. Personally I use mstsc.exe in windows and “RD Client” app on Android to remote connect to my computer.
4-To shut down the computer simply execute: “shutdown –s –f –t 0” (which mean shutdown, force, time=now)
Note 1: Your IP might change at different interval. Make sure to verify your DNS get updated after a change. Also if your IP is not properly binded, your router might remember for some time the mac address associated with the IP, but might forget it after some time. Make sure to test that also before thrusting your setup.
Note 2: Once I bought a D-Link router and it would not let me bind or broadcast even thus it was advertised as a WOL compatible device. I sent an email to the company which promptly sent me a beta firmware to unlock the feature. It is now part of the official release, but it is always a pleasure to share with the community when I get excellent service like that.
