Network Storage
Your guide to Network Storage on PiFi
What is Network Storage?
Network storage uses the SD card or a USB drive connected to Raspberry Pi and allows multiple computers or devices to access and share data over a network - sort of like Google Drive, iCloud or Dropbox but and only for devices connected to your network.
SD Card or USB
When you install PiFi onto an SD card, or use the pre-installed SD card if using the PiFi Kit, 1Gb is reserved for the firmware and plug-ins and the rest is made available for network storage — similar to Dropbox or Google Drive, but private and only for computers connected to the PiFi network.
If you have a USB flash drive you can also connect that and PiFi will auto-mount it (many formats are supported but ext4 drives have the best support).
PiFi App
Open App > Settings > Network Storage to see your mounted shares (SD or USB and available storage)
Third-Party Apps for Accessing/Streaming Your Files
Network Storage on PiFi uses the SMB (Samba) protocol. It’s configured to auto-mount USB flash drives you plug into the USB ports on Raspberry Pi and it automatically uses the unused space on the SD card for files.
SMB is supported natively on Windows and Mac, and there are dozens of great apps that take advantage of this protocol so you can access your files on all your devices.
Apple (Mac, iPhone iPad)
- On Mac, if you open Finder - look under locations and you should see PiFi (tip: if you can’t find it tap Network)
Firecore Infuse 7 - An Elegant Video Player for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV (tap here to see how to setup network storage)App Store Files - The Files app from Mac lets you view all the documents, files and videos (Note: read-only, limitation of app)
Android
GooglePlay Owlfiles - File Manager - Apps on Google Play
- Many other apps too (we will soon expand this article)
Windows
- Open File Explorer.
- On the left-hand pane, scroll down to Network.
- Under the Network section, you should see the NAS device listed by its name or IP address. Click on it to view the shared folders.
- If the NAS or SMB share doesn’t appear immediately, you can try refreshing the network view or clicking on the Network option to search for devices.
Have more questions? Check out the PiFi community forum