I am looking for a good Samba alternative which allows outside LAN connections.

Question

I am looking for a good Samba alternative which allows outside LAN connections.

Why do I want this:

I have 1 Macbook and 1 iMac and a central server. I want to share files between them like photos and other documents. These files should be stored at the central server. This server is located in a datacenter. I need my macbook at different locations and I want data to be central. Samba is the best options, but it only works in your current network. Even if I am able to make Samba work with outside LAN connections it isn't safe enough to use it at public networks because the data isn't encrypted.

What am I looking for:

Server software which runs on Linux (CentOS but mostly packages work with all distros)
Client software (or just a protocol) which runs on both OSX and Windows
It should have something like a directory (Dropbox -> Directory, Network -> Device -> Directory)
Should be safe (Samba doesn't send data encrypted)
I should be able to authenticate myself with a username or password

I am not looking for:

Dropbox
FTP Server

Dropbox is nice and it fits 90% for what I am looking for. But I want my files to be stored on my server, not the dropbox server.

Explanation / Answer

If you don't necessarily want something that integrates into your file manager, you can transfer files over ssh. I'm a big fan of cyberduck through the sftp protocol as a client but there's also tools that let you use a ssh connected file system as a network mapped drive.

Server software which runs on Linux: Absolutely, you just need a ssh server
Client software (or just a protocol) which runs on both OSX and Windows: Cyberduck for a ftp style client. Various options like sshfs for system integration - I talk about clients I have tried on the next point
It should have something like a directory (Dropbox -> Directory, Network -> Device -> Directory): not entirely sure what you mean by that, but you can mount a ssh file share on many OSes - I have had good luck with winsshfs on windows, and mounting it as a shared drive
Should be safe (Samba doesn't send data encrypted) : Its ssh - I need not say anything else
I should be able to authenticate myself with a username or password: Its ssh based, so that or key based encryption

I don't have an OS X box to test but sshfs would work with OS X. I've tested and had both clients I mentioned work on windows

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