External access from the internet to hard drive

I want to buy a hard drive that can be accessed from the internet by family members and a small set of friends. With videos, music etc, the space requirement is approaching TBs.

I have looked at Dropbox etc but the cost appears a bit excessive. Would prefer buying a NAS drive or some such thing except how can i make it available from outside?

Any pointers appreciated. thanks, srini

Buffalo, amongst others, offer a range of NAS drives that have the ability to be accessed online on a per user basis etc.

Just bear in mind that the performance of accessing such a device is limited by the upload speed of your home broadband connection.