How to mount a remote file system in Ubuntu

# install the utility
sudo apt-get install sshfs

# make a directory where to mount the remote file system
sudo mkdir /mnt/backups
sudo chown YOURUSERNAME /mnt/alpha

# mount the remote drive
sshfs YOURUSERNAME@192.168.1.123:/home/YOURUSERNAME/backups /mnt/backups

# check to see that the files are mounted
ls -la /mnt/backups