No way to make FreeNAS visible outside network?

[confusercat]

Hi,

I am, like many users here, new to FreeNAS. I am using FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-p2-x64. My problems are as follows:

I am on a network that uses fixed IPv4 addresses. There are two routers in the building: router A and router B. The FreeNAS box is on router A. I can only see the box from other computers connected to router A, not Router B or any external (wifi) network. I do not have access to the routers themselves and cannot forward ports or make any such changes. I can only work with the box.

1. Is there any way to make the FreeNAS box visible to router B?

2. If yes, then is there any way to make the FreeNAS box visible to external users? I have seen this thread and can't use that solution because I can't forward the port on the router. I have also seen this thread and don't understand why the same solution doesn't work as I have entered the default gateway (Global Configuration -> IPv4 Default Gateway) correctly.

3. Do the settings for Hostname and Domain in Global Configuration have anything to do with this? I have a DNS hostname from the router associated with my address and use it to connect to the admin console, but I'm not sure - does this go in the Hostname here?

Thanks - from tests, the shares on the same router all seem to work, but I just need to know if it can only work this way or if there are other possibilities.

Edit to add: I should add that it isn't a specific protocol issue. Absolutely nothing works from a computer on router B - not SSH, not SFTP, not FTP, not CIFS, not even the admin interface. Nothing. It's like there's something stopping any traffic whatsoever from reaching the FreeNAS box from outside the router. Please help!

 

[pirateghost]

if you have no control of the router, then no, there is nothing you can do. that is the purpose of a NAT device, to essentially firewall off devices on one side of the network from the other....

you should read up on basic networking, because at this point, it is your routers, and nothing you do on the FreeNAS will do anything to alleviate that

 

[titan_rw]

The OP doesn't say there's NAT going on. There might be, but it's not specifically stated. All we know is there's two 'routers'. The term router is pretty widely used. The two routers could be anything. Even some managed switches have 'routing' features in them these days.

If you have zero communication through the router(s) as it is, then you'll have to talk to the administrators of those routers in order to get traffic passed. There's nothing you can do on freenas to magically bypass routers when nothing else can get through them.

 

[confusercat]

Thanks for the replies. This isn't an NAT problem - each machine has a unique ipv4 address (wasteful, I know, but this is an old system). It's a problem with the router. Further tests with just basic shares in windows showed that the router is stopping dead any connection from outside some pre-defined sets, so the only solution is to try to find the person who set this up.

 

[Caesar]

what do you mean by you don't have access to these routers? do you not have the admin account information or do you not have physical access? also what do you mean by "unique ipv4 address" are you talking about ip range? like computers on router A are 10.255.255.255 and router B are 192.168.255.255???

 

[confusercat]

what do you mean by you don't have access to these routers?

I can't make or modify rules on the routers.

also what do you mean by "unique ipv4 address"

There's no DHCP or NAT, each connected device has a unique static ip. There are two routers, one in a range (for example) 123.45.678.*** and another in 123.45.456.***. Machines on 123.45.678.*** can't see any machines on 123.45.456.***. So if I have the NAS on 123.45.678.*** it is unreachable from 123.45.456.***.

 

[cyberjock]

Yep.. that's a limitation of your subnets I'm guessing.

 

[gpsguy]

I setup something like this for a small business I support. While both subnets (VLANS) share the same internet connection, visitors using "the other subnet" are blocked via firewall rules from accessing the office network.

Machines on 123.45.678.*** can't see any machines on 123.45.456.***.

As titan_rw said, you need to work closely with the network admins.

If the network admins don't know how it's configured or know who set this up, you've got a much larger problem. What happens if one of the routers break? Will anyone be able to fix the problem?