Searching remote file systems over VPN or SSH is indeed possible, though the method depends on the technology. A VPN extends your local network to include the remote network, making remote drives and folders appear as if they are directly connected to your computer. You can then search them using your operating system's built-in file explorer or search tools. In contrast, SSH provides a secure command-line connection to the remote system. Searching requires using command-line tools like grep (for file content) or find (for filenames) directly on the remote machine rather than your local desktop interface.

Common examples include corporate employees using VPN access to securely search file shares located at a different office location using Windows File Explorer or macOS Finder. System administrators frequently use SSH to log into Linux servers and then execute commands like grep -r "error" /var/log/ to find specific entries within log files spread across the server's directory structure.

The main advantage is secure access to remote data without needing to download everything locally. VPN is generally more user-friendly for typical file browsing but can be bandwidth-intensive for large searches. SSH searching is efficient and powerful for technical users but requires command-line proficiency. Security considerations are critical for both; correctly configuring access controls and encryption prevents unauthorized access to sensitive remote files during searches.