One minute
FUSE sshfs
Are you searching for an alternative way to get your files from a remote server without the hassle of rsync’ing or copying? Do you have problems with UID mapping between your hosts? Then take a look at fuse-sshfs (available for Linux and FreeBSD 6.x but not for MacOS X). The syntax is comparably easy to grasp: sudo sshfs {{user id}}@{{server hostname}}:{{desired remote share}} {{desired local mount point}} -o idmap=user -o allow_other -o uid={{local user id}} -o gid={{local group id}}
Although there is a (heavy) performance penalty, the enhanced security compared to a NFS mount and the lighter configuration footprint (there isn’t any on the server side) compared to AFS make it an ideal choice for any quick file operation you want to make remotely. For example, think of sharing code trees between your build box and several production systems. With sshfs you can add without hassle remote sites connected without any VPN (although, I wouldn’t recommend this as a permanent solution). “SSH is the HTTP of system administrators!”