Best way to remotely access an Ubuntu (13.10) HTPC/server securely

[minerva330]

I am in the process of setting up a HTPC/home server. I am running Ubuntu 13.10. I have a large drive with multiple partitions. Sharing and streaming while on my home network seems very straight-forward.

However, what is the best method if say I want to access my server while I am at work or away from home? I realize I could install a FTP client on my laptop but I would like to be able to access my content from any computer, via web-browser. I have been looking into Apache SSL WebDav, however, I am uncertain if this is the simplest most straight-forward method for what I want to do. I also want it to be secure.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[corroded]

try Webmin... reset the default ports and do port forwarding on your router... you might also want to use DDNS so you do not need to know your Public IP address to hit it.

I use Webmin on Centos servers for remote management....

 

[stillblue]

Webmin is great but it does have some security issues. For top security you need to use sFTP. For normal, I just don't want the kids breaking in security, Webmin is sweet.

 

[minerva330]

try Webmin... reset the default ports and do port forwarding on your router... you might also want to use DDNS so you do not need to know your Public IP address to hit it.

I use Webmin on Centos servers for remote management....

Thanks for recommendation. I ultimately decided to run a tunnel via pagekite rather than reconfigure my router/DDNS settings and it has been working like a charm. However, if I end up going over my quota I may try that method in the future. Much appreciated.

 

[corroded]

minerva... I've also start true remote desktop with Teamviewer. It seems to work really well and it is like Windows RDP, real desktop, not just a webpage. Both Webmin and Teamviewer are fairly low bandwidth as well.

Disadvantage of TV is it runs as a WINE application, not Linux native.

 

[minerva330]

Thanks, that's great because a non-LAN RDP solution was my next endeavor. As of right now I can only access my server remotely through owncloud or WebDAV. It would be nice to be able to have full RDM. Thanks again.

Edit: just looked at the TV software. It looks awesome, so much simpler than all the other methods I was looking into.