Using TZO DDNS and FTPDrive to map a remote disk drive over the Internet

Using TZO DDNS to map a remote disk drive over the Internet (Continued)

TZO DYNAMIC DNS SETUP - Step 10) Download TZO Lite and Install - Download TZO Lite Here - Install TZO on the dedicated server where you installed FileZilla FTP. Download and install TZO on the "server" you are planning on using. The server can be any PC in your home or office that stays up and running all the time. This server will also be attached to a cable or DSL line or some other Internet connection.

Install TZO using the defaults for installation. Once the install finishes, TZO will start automatically. When it asks for a TZO Key, put in your TZO Key or you can choose the 10 or 30 day free trial. You should now select your domain name and then select the defaults and finish the installation. TZO lite is now tracking your IP address of your WAN and updating the TZO DDNS servers with the current IP address each time it changes. Once you signon to TZO you will see the domain name as shown in the example below. In this case, the domain name is NAME.TZO.COM.

You are done with the FTP Server and Dynamic DNS setup. Leave this PC/Server up and running and do not turn it off, this will act as your remote FTP server and needs to be running and connected to the Internet at all times if you wish to have access to the remote drive at any time.

Router Configuration - Step 11) Configuring port forwarding in the Applications and Gaming Menu

Opening ports in your Linksys router is very easy. You first need to log into your Linksys router. Log into the router by going to http://192.168.1.1 and using your username and password to log into the router as shown in the screenshot below:

(The Linksys default username and pw is blank/admin as shown below)

Once you log into the router, Find and Click the APPLICATIONS and GAMING link in the top menu as shown circled in the screenshot below. Your router may look slightly different, but most Linksys routers now have all port forwarding within the Applications and gaming menu.

Once you get into the APPLICATIONS and GAMING menu in the router, you will see a list of ports, and IP's as shown in the screenshots below. Keep in mind that your router will look like one of the two screenshots. Newer routers will look like the first screenshot, and older models appear similar to the second screenshot.

Router Configuration - Step 12) Adding Ports into the Applications and Gaming Menu in the Linksys Router

A) Newer Linksys Routers - If your Applications and Gaming screen looks similar to the one below, FTP is already pre-defined in the drop down list of ports. You should set yours to look like the screenshot below. Select FTP from the dropdown list of applications, then select TCP, Set the LAN IP to 192.168.1.200 and Enable should be checked on. In the Applications and Gaming menu, add in the "FTP20" name within the Application field exactly as shown below. Then add in the Start port of 20, End port is 20, TCP or Both for protocol (either will work) and make sure the IP address is set to the Static LAN IP of the FTP server we set earlier. In this case, we used 192.168.1.200. Now make sure the port range is enabled. Scroll down and click SAVE SETTINGS to save these settings. You are now done with the port forwarding. Double check your settings before moving to the next step.

Newer Linksys routers - Applications and Gaming screen.

B) Older Linksys Routers - If your Applications and Gaming screen looks similar to the one below, you should set yours to look like the screenshot below. Add in the "FTP" name within the Application field exactly as shown below. Then add in the Start port of 21, End port is 21, TCP or Both for protocol (either will work) and make sure the IP address is set to the Static LAN IP of the FTP server we set earlier. In this case, we used 192.168.1.200. Now make sure the port range is enabled. Add in a second called "FTP20" name within the Application field exactly as shown below. Then add in the Start port of 20, End port is 20, TCP or Both for protocol (either will work) and make sure the IP address is set to the Static LAN IP of the FTP server we set earlier. In this case, we used 192.168.1.200. Now make sure the port range is enabled. Scroll down and click SAVE SETTINGS to save these settings. You are now done with the port forwarding. Double check your settings before moving to the next step.

Older Linksys routers - Applications and Gaming screen.

FTPDrive Configuration - Step 13) Download and Setup FTPDrive Application - you are now ready to setup the FTPDrive client application that allows you to map a drive letter to an FTP site. FTPDrive also can support Secure FTP and can save a list of FTP sites to connect to and instantly map.

Download the FTPDrive Application and install on your Laptop or PC's that want to access. This should NOT be installed on the server. Once you setup the application, it asks you to reboot. Reboot your PC and then start FTPDrive using the Start menu.

FTPDrive Configuration - Step 14) Once you run FTPDrive it starts minimized in the system tray (Down near the clock) In order to configure it, you need to doubleclick the icon in the system tray and it will launch the FTPDrive GUI as shown below. Click EDIT SERVERS button as shown circled in red below.

FTPDrive Configuration - Step 15) You can now ADD your FTP Server information by clicking on ADD SITE. Once you click the ADD SITE, you should enter in the information about your FTP Server. In Server Host, you should put in your domain name that you selected when you signed up with TZO. By Default, the server port should be 21, and then enter in your username and password. For other settings, you can set them as shown below. Make sure you properly select if this is a secure connection or not - in this case, we are not using FTPS on our FTP Server. See the FileZilla documentation about FTPS and setting up certificates if you wish to use FTPS. Click ADD SITE to add the site, then click OK and your site will appear in the SITE LIST as shown on the left side in the screenshot below.

FTPDrive Configuration - Step 16) Click OK and FTPDrive will go back to the main interface. By default, PASSIVE FTP is enabled. You may want to disable this, it all depends on the FTP Server and the network setup. DISABLED is probably the best way to start. To disable this, uncheck PREFER PASSIVE MODE in the upper left corner as shown in the screenshot below. You can also change the default drive letter. In our case, we already had a network drive on drive Z, so we set ours to drive letter X. Once you are done you can click OK and FTPDrive will minimize to the system tray.

FTPDrive Configuration - Step 17) Test your Connection. In order to test your connection and make sure this works over the Internet, you should leave the server location and try to connect over the Internet using a different ISP. To test, make sure FTPDrive is running, and then open MY COMPUTER to view your local disk drives. You'll now see a drive Z or X, in this case we used X since we already had a drive Z in use. Double Click on the drive letter you setup for FTP Drive and continue on the next step.

FTPDrive Configuration - Step 18) Connecting to your FTP. When you double click on the drive letter in My Computer, the FTP client inside of FTPDrive shows a folder with the name of the site in FTPDrive. We called ours MyFTPSite as shown below. When you doubleclick on the site you added, FTPDrive will connect in via FTP and show a list of the files in the site (If any).

FTPDrive Configuration - Step 19) Adding and Removing files to your remote FTP - The files will show up (if you have any files in the FTP folder) just as they would browsing on a local disk. In this tutorial, we have a few file types in the directly and they show as below. You can drag and drop, cut and paste. Keep in mind that depending on the speed of your server, size of your file, and speed of your connection, it may take some time to perform large file transfers.

If you have trouble connecting, the number one issue is Passive FTP issues. Try to DISABLE Passive FTP in the FTPDrive client as shown in Step 16. You should also doublecheck the FTP settings and attempt to perform some tests locally using the local FTP Server IP address instead of the domain name. Once you know you can connect locally, this narrows the scope of the possible issues, typically pointing to router issues, or passive FTP issues.