Can you set file permissions on a network drive?
 

I am in need of a network drive for my company that will store all the company files. File permissions are very important. Some files I don't want employees to access and some files I will allow access but read only. I was hoping this can be done with a simple network drive attached to something like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/appli... but I am not sure if permissions can be set with this type of thing.

Alternatively, I was going to just buy a server with either ubuntu installed or windows 7 server.

Given my needs, what solution would you recommend?

bump bump

Yes. You just have to set the right permissions on the directory.

I would put up a windows box (no need to be server, XP Pro would do) and configure permissions appropriately. Without an AD controller I'd use matching username/passwords between clients and "server" to ensure that remote files access are controlled by the right ACL on the server.

Actually this is exactly what I have in my office. It isn't hard and gives extremely fine grained control.

I'm using 2 of http://www.buffalo-technology.com/

Config through a webinterface, can set access permission per share.

But most professional NAS solutions have that, including LDAP or other directory related security measures. On the other hand, u can create a file server easy (Windows, Mac, Unix/Linux). Using remote control it provides the most flexible way to setup such a file server. Then you can use internal or external drives.

It's best to search for NAS solution on the internet. They vary from a few hundred $ to seriously tens of thousands, multi disc, RAID 5 solutions.

this is what windows sbs is made for.