(Here, I am accessing my ArchLinux Pogo Plug ARM server via SFTP on my Chromebook)
One of the thing that the Chromebook (ChromeOS) lacks is the ability to access local network share.
This isn't a glaring omission nor oversight on behalf of Google. As we know, they designed Chrome OS to be an Internet device that uses Google services. Chromebooks are designed and sold to access the public Internet.
However, if you are a home user who wants to access his local files on his local NAS or network file server, you are out of luck. Maybe you are a school IT administrator who is also looking into deploying Chromebooks but want his school staff and students to access the local network file server.
Well, you can. Sort of. It requires building a front-end to your network shares using some popular open-source projects and this blog post will chronicle two of them:
Pydio (formerly AjaXplorer) and OwnCloud .
Both are PHP front ends that allow you to access file servers using just a web browser. Both have their plus and minuses. In short, you will need a LAMP stack box to act as the gateway to your file services. In other words, you'll need a Linux/OSX/Unix based web server to act as a middleman gateway. Think of them as mini, low-end consumer, small business asset management systems that works in the browser.
Read On.
This blog article will about these two projects with the idea of using them for Chromebooks. Sure, you can use them with any computer, browser but the point is to have a solution for Chromebook users to access their network file servers.