Mapping an sFTP connection to a Windows drive?

Question

I'm looking for a way to map an sFTP connection to a Windows (Vista) drive. In other words, a tool that would add a new drive (let's say N:) to my computer, that would directly point to my remote server via sFTP.

That way, "N:\my_dir\file.txt" would actually be something like "/home/user/my_dir/file.txt" on the remote server. Reading the file on Windows would download it, and writing content in it would upload it...network transfers being made via sFTP.

I'm aware of Novell NetDrive, but it has various issues with long filenames, and seems to corrupt UTF-8 files content depending on the BOM. Do you know about any reliable alternative ?

Thanks !

Edit : I have complete control of the remote server, except that it's remote enough for me not to be able to physically access it.

Solution 1

WebDrive seems to be a NetDrive replacement.

Solution 2

Based on a similar question at Serverfault.com (this thread came up first searching for a tool however), one can also try the free version of SFTP Net Drive.

A commenter on the answer describes it as similar to the paid tool ExpanDrive.

Solution 3

I've used a product called "SftpDrive" in the past, it looks like it's been renamed to ExpanDrive these days. It worked pretty well, but it's shareware-y: you can try it for free, but you do have to buy it if you intend to keep using it. If you really need this functionality, though, it does work well.

Solution 4

There was a port of FUSE for Windows - that might work for you, but other than NetDrive I'm not aware of other tools that would support sFTP

http://fuse4win.4host.ru/

I was just looking for an answer for a related question:

There is also a commercial product: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExpanDrive

Solution 5

Just try Moodisk. It's a Windows shell namespace extension that can map the sftp-server directory to an icon on your own computer desktop. Moreover, it's integrated into the mouse's right click "Send To" submenu.

Moodisk is a network drive, but you can download the client tool, and modify the file "c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts", appending the below line:

<your sftp-server's ip address>   www.moodisk.com

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Comments

[Admin]

You might find more answers at serverfault, but I'm not even sure this is easily possible.

[GmonC]

Do you have control in the remote server? Can you install packages and stuff?

[Nicolas]

I have complete control of the remote server, except that it's remote enough for me not to be able to physically access it.

[Nicolas]

I ended up using WebDrive, which is an amazing product. I recommend it.

[looooongname]

Yeah, but $70 is a bit steep! Trial only lasts 20 days.

[looooongname]

Note: SFTP Net Drive and NetDrive are actually different products. The former one mentioned here works quite nicely, thanks!