NAS setup and limit user access

My friend asked if it's possible to limit users to access only particular files/folders which he/she should be able to access from any computer within the premise. Something like password protected files and folders (like in one drive, drop box??? but in local network storage)

Setup he has.
NAS storage - 2 units
PC - About a dozen systems running windows 8.1 and 10

User should be able to access files and folders from any computer, not just one computer. Because they don't always work in one system, they move from one to another more frequently.

Since I am don't have a clue with NAS, I said I will check. But I couldn't grasp all the things when I googled. So here I am asking, is his requirement possible? If yes, how? Any guidance would be helpful. If not, what's the option we have?

Thank you.

Sure, its possible, I dont have exact steps to show how, but tinkering around in both OpenMediaVault and FreeNas had that functionality if i remember correctly.
Basically you create users and assign what locations the users will be able to access.
EDIT : Unsure about that distributed storage requirmeent

Your requirement is kind of odd. If you have a NAS storage system, then all the data present there can be shared to all users in the network. You can enforce rules based on who has access to what folder.
But distributed sharing between all computers is tricky and you will probably have to use Windows WORKGROUP functionality.
Just Google them to find out how to use.

Which NAS ? How are they accessing the files ? If unix based users are used, then use unix user permissions.

> Make user an owner of file/folder

chown user:group file/folder

> set permissions

chmod 700 file/folder

Exact command may vary. This is from the top of my head..

Nerevarine said:
Your requirement is kind of odd. If you have a NAS storage system, then all the data present there can be shared to all users in the network. You can enforce rules based on who has access to what folder.
But distributed sharing between all computers is tricky and you will probably have to use Windows WORKGROUP functionality.

So you mean, we can restrict to one computer but not password protected for different users who uses the same computer within NAS.
If Windows workgroup function will do, it's fine. I will google and see what can be done.
Thank you.

cute.bandar said:
Which NAS ? How are they accessing the files ? If unix based users are used, then use unix user permissions.

Netgear NAS OS 6
They are accessing from windows desktop computer.

W

Just for info,Win 10 RS4 has disabled SMBv1(because of its vulnerability to ransomware like wannacry) so older devices(incl NAS running on SMBv1) may not see win 10 RS4 systems on network.