OwnCloud/Dropbox Replacement 7
I’m always confused when folks elect to put their data on someone elses computer or storage. That is what using the cloud means.
It is really easy to have a private cloud where you host all the data from your broadband connected home with about the same power use as a high-efficiency LED light bulb. Plus by doing this, you can have remote access to all the compute power inside your house, through a highly secure connection, unlike what OwnCloud or Dropbox provide. Better. More secure. Under your control. What’s not to like?
Existing Tools
Whenever I show sftp to people, they are amazed. Seriously. Most Windows Admins don’t know anything about it. Most end-users have never heard of it. Add in the fact that you don’t need a hosting provider or many IT skills to run and use it – I just don’t understand why everyone with a broadband connection isn’t running their own sftp file server on the internet?
Why not?
Or Use Applicances
Docker, VDI, Droplet, Raspberry Pi, Beagle Board … there are setups just for these systems. It is fairly easy to run ssh, scp, sftp on all of these, but you might want an all-in-one distro – like Sandstorm
It is completely up to you and they’ve made these things really easy.
Options “B”
If you have a VPN, you can follow these steps to have your own email, cloud, blog, read-it-later, and other setup by using Ansible. I like Ansible. Seeing real-world examples of how to setup a multitude of different services through Ansible playbooks is good.
Some of us don’t have servers.
I know… blasphemy!
I don’t have any servers either.
There are just old systems here doing server-like things.
Isn’t a system doing server like things that runs 24/7 that you can access remotely considered a server?
Not to everyone. What is a server?
There are different definitions. Many people think of big, loud, power-sucking computers as servers. I’m just trying to say that for the one-time price of a quality home router ($120-ish), you can have access to all your files from anywhere in the world, without giving them to a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th party to hold.
Plus these little devices can usually do multiple things – like replacing a CATV connection for people only mildly interested in TV.
Let me explain – I’ve been using the FreeCable plugin for XBMC for a few years. This accesses TV streaming directly from each network. Most networks have the last 4 episodes of current shows online for free, without commercials, in hidef. Sometimes there is a 7 day delay, but not always. Now that Kodi has replaced XBMC (just a name change), USTV VoD has replaced FreeCable. So – if you missed some guilty pleasure on TV last week, it is there waiting to be streamed this week.
Streaming doesn’t take much power at all, but those cheap streaming sticks from google, amazon, roku don’t provide access to these web-based VoD options. A real computer, albeit low-power and cheap, is necessary.
The hard part is that nobody builds and sells these things commercially. While not illegal, it is frowned upon by the TV networks who would rather we pay $100/month for CATV rather than use the antenna or web to watch 100% legal shows for free.
For someone who knows what they are doing, setting up a secure, sftp system takes 5-15 minutes and 2 min per client. Then it just works for years.
Would you recommend using an sftp client or running all transfers through the command line?
BB – thanks for the question.
I don’t have any valid opinion about that. I am full of opinion, but don’t think it is valid for everyone.
Generally, I use the CLI since I find most file management tasks through a GUI to be too slow. For example, I can rename 20,000 files before I can get a GUI file manager to the directly. That’s me. Other people might prefer a GUI for some reason. As long as the program is patched and maintained correctly, regardless of the platform, I don’t have any issue. However, I don’t believe that Windows programs release patches quickly enough. I much prefer the Linux package manager and repository method of patch management.
Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind. And I’ll get looking for a good CLI tutorial