Searching for Remote access solution

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Level 1

8 points

Searching for Remote access solution

Hi, I'm new to Apple Support Communities and wanted to reply to a post by Tesselax to ask for clarification about this subject.

My situation is that I have 4 iMac's on a small network. We have our work files stored on a Synology NAS in the office so all iMacs can access them. I can get remote access to the NAS when I'm out of office, which is great. The iMacs and the office NAS all back up to a bigger NAS which is in a separate building, so that in case of fire etc we won't lose the work files.

So it's all working well, except that ... it's killing me that I can't Spotlight search my thousands of work documents. I often want to find a section of text that may have been written 5 years ago about a subject I'm working on now. If I use EasyFind to search the NAS, it's a slow grind like a typical Windows search. Too slow to be practical.

I really want to achieve these 2 criteria:

the ability to spotlight search all of my historical work documents, and

remote access to the work documents.

preferably with the work documents stored on a networked drive equally accessible to all iMacs, rather than stored on one of the iMacs.

I know there are lots of solutions out there, but am having trouble working out just what does what, and the pros and cons of each.

I've tried using Back to my Mac and currently (using a wireless internet USB dongle on my Macbook) it's just impossibly slow. And it only works back to my own iMac.

My network uses a good quality Billion router and switch, which is uPnP compatible.

Is it necessary to have an Airport Extreme for remote access to work well?

All advice very much appreciated.

Andrew

Posted on Jul 11, 2014 1:55 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,423 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:31 PM in response to andrewvonb

I really want to achieve these 2 criteria:

the ability to spotlight search all of my historical work documents

First, welcome to the Apple Support Communities!

Unfortunately, I won't be able to help you with your first criteria as I believe Spotlight is a local drive only solution. I have tried a product called "X1" but only on a Windows-based PC which I liked but don't know if they have a Mac equivalent product available.

... and

remote access to the work documents.

preferably with the work documents stored on a networked drive equally accessible to all iMacs, rather than stored on one of the iMacs.

Although I understand your second criteria, I must have read your post incorrectly as I am lead to believe you stated that you weren't having any issues accessing work documents on the NAS from a remote location. Could you please provide some additional details on what you would like to do in this regard?

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Answer 2

andrewvonb Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:51 PM in response to Tesserax

Hey thanks very much for the reply.

Re: the second criteria of requiring remote access, my point is that I need to have a system that can provide all of these features combined!

Yes I can access the work files on the NAS remotely, with no problem. But we can't spotlight search it. It's a big workflow aid to be able to quickly "google" the files to find the ones that contain text that I need to use in a new doc.

If I store all the work files on my local office iMac, I could have spotlight searching, but I do have some concern that it would not be as seamless for the other workers to access the files (if my machine happens to be offline etc). I thought I could live with that solution if I could get remote access, but I set up BtMM and found it incredibly slow (like a minute or more to go to the next folder level, and some of my projects have 8 folder levels!).

If I get an Airport Express, will it work faster (much much faster) than BtMM on my current non-Apple router system??

The best solution would be something that provided the above wishes but also allowed me to access my files from a non-Mac PC. It's way out of my league to understand if that's possible or how to do it.

Let me know if I can clarify more, as I really want to find a good solution. I rang Apple Support the other day and unfortunately I don't think the guy (a senior guy in networking apparently) was able to help and had me running all sorts of speed tests (all OK) to see if BtMM could work faster. I'd like someone who can listen to what we're trying to do (which seems pretty standard, and there must be a lot of others out there with the same issue) and give us some big-picture advice on what we should do. I don't mind buying new gear or paying for qualified professional advice ... I just want a slick system that works well.

Thanks very much,

Andrew

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