Hello everyone,
For a while now ive been wanting to create a way for me to access my home pc and have it perform remote tasks (Namely file downloading, archiving, torrenting) without needing to keep the PC continuously powered.
Having seen the power of Linux and ssh at the hands of associates, I would like to be able to securely and discretely control my main PC with the goal of being able to seamlessly transfer files to any remote location.
My idea so far is to take an external hard drive of mine (with over 100+ gigs to play with) and partition off say 1/3 of it for a kernel. With that I want to be able to remotely: Power on my PC. Control the computer's downloads and file sharing. Easily swap files back and forth between my laptop.
Furthermore I would like to link up with the linux kernel on the Home PC and create a sort of private-ssh based vpn if such a thing is possible.
I'm not really thinking of a constant, server type thing, just the ability to easily download and then transfer files remotely time to time.
So far Ive downloaded more books than I can count about a dozen different possible topics trying to get a grasp on all this....
As far as questions are concerned, mine are legion.
-What would be the best Linux OS to choose for this? im looking for something small and discrete that can work on a laptop
-How should I go about installing and configuring the necessary software?
-Is ssh the answer to the kind of file transference im talking about?
-Would a custom Unix kernel be the best bet? Or a Unix anything?
-In terms of subject areas, what should I start reading about?
Sorry if this is a bit lengthy, thanks in advance to anyone who put up with my lack of knowledge and read everything
ill gladly clarify anything
sry if this is the wrong forum section
cheers!