Google Drive alternative?
from paequ2@lemmy.today to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 30 Jun 20:33
https://lemmy.today/post/32660828

Hello! How are folks self-hosting online storage, similar to Google Drive?

Some options I’ve found:

A bunch more: github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted?…

I mainly just need basic file management features. I don’t plan to share files outside of my tailscale VPN. I do need to support multiple users though.

I’m not considering Nextcloud because that seems too big. I’m also not considering syncthing for this project because I don’t want copies on multiple devices.

I’m currently just using ssh+nautilus and that’s worked great for just me, but something similar to Google Drive would be easier to onboard my family.

#selfhosted

threaded - newest

wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works on 30 Jun 20:37 next collapse

WebDAV would work. Mounts directly in the Finder in MacOS.

HelloRoot@lemy.lol on 30 Jun 20:53 next collapse

I personally really like sftpgo and I mount it via webdav.

I used seafile first, then nextcloud. Each for a couple of years and had significant problems with both.

robber@lemmy.ml on 30 Jun 22:09 next collapse

SFTPGo is such an awesome project, never had any problems with it.

YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca on 30 Jun 22:57 collapse

I’m also using SFTPGo at home and it works well.

nullpotential@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 30 Jun 21:19 next collapse

Zipline

paequ2@lemmy.today on 30 Jun 21:45 collapse

There are several projects named zipline. I think you’re talking about this one though: github.com/diced/zipline

dataprolet@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 30 Jun 22:33 next collapse

Nextcloud, hands down.

lorentz@feddit.it on 30 Jun 22:56 next collapse

I use filestash. I like it because it can connect with so many backends. In my setup it uses samba behind the scenes all the shares permissions are in a single configuration and I don’t have to worry about a different set of user credentials.

alphapuggle@programming.dev on 30 Jun 23:14 next collapse

There’s a new version (fork?) of filebrowser dubbed “quantum” if that’s your thing github.com/gtsteffaniak/filebrowser

JuvenoiaAgent@piefed.ca on 30 Jun 23:16 next collapse

FileBrowser has a fork under development: https://github.com/gtsteffaniak/filebrowser

I currently use copyparty. It's not the prettiest, but it's fast and the documentation on GitHub is extensive. The maintainer is also very friendly and helpful.

Clearwater@lemmy.world on 30 Jun 23:28 next collapse

I use Nextcloud, but as you said it’s a bit big, and with each update it’s slowly turning into more of the entire G-Suite.

I’ve used filebrowser, but be aware that until just a few days ago, it gave out access to a shell. Even with that turned off, I’d be very weary of allowing access from out of the VPN. I had a server pwned with filebrowser appearing to be the vector, and to my memory console access was disabled for the account most likely breached.

MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 30 Jun 23:50 next collapse

github.com/kd2org/karadav

Nextcloud client/app compatible WebDAV server with a lightweight file browser webUI, and multi-user support.

Should be the closest thing to Google Drive without actually running Nextcloud.

The only issue is it looks like the Nextcloud iOS clients don’t work.

themadcodger@kbin.earth on 01 Jul 01:23 next collapse

Nextcloud got too bulky for me, and in my search I tried a number of different options before installing OpenCloud without realizing it isn't fully finished yet. That said, it still works well enough for my use case.

IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world on 01 Jul 01:26 next collapse

Self hosting backups for anything remotely critical is usually a terrible terrible idea. Carry on.

mike_wooskey@lemmy.thewooskeys.com on 01 Jul 01:54 next collapse

I selfhost Cryptpad, but it sounds like it may be more than you’re looking for.

aksdb@lemmy.world on 01 Jul 04:18 next collapse

Why does the storage layer of seafile scare you? Are you also scared of databases and prefer storing things in raw txt files? The difference is the same. You get certain features in return:

  • Versioning is possible (so each file can have a history you can roll back)
  • Sync is very fast
  • It can sync incremental changes even of big files

You still have access via:

  • Web
  • Synced locally using Seafile Client
  • WebDAV
  • Mounted as network filesystem anywhere using SeaDrive.
paequ2@lemmy.today on 01 Jul 04:39 next collapse

Are you also scared of databases and prefer storing things in raw txt files?

Yes, actually. 😅 I can’t manage a database for more than a few weeks before I screw it up or want to easily edit something and stop using it.

I don’t think databases are bad. I think I’m too much of a fuckup to manage one.

aksdb@lemmy.world on 01 Jul 05:52 collapse

LOL, ok, fair 😁

You should in any case consider your backup strategy. If you have reliable backups, your fuckups can’t be as bad anymore. If you don’t have reliable backups, a “raw” storage doesn’t help you either. Maybe even the contrary: you won’t notice, if individual files get corrupted or even lost until it’s too late. (Not talking about disk corruption, against which the right filesystem can guard you… but I am not sure you trust filesystems either 😛)

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 02 Jul 00:40 collapse

I’m not OP and am a dev, but also prefer flat files. Here’s my reasoning:

  • versioning - I use snapshots in my filesystem (BTRFS), which is more than enough, and have a git hosting solution for things I care about more
  • sync is plenty fast on OCIS and Samba, it’s just kinda slow on Nextcloud; I’m sure Seafile is better, but it’s not something I do frequently anyway, especially since backups from devices is automatic and uses a different, fast system
  • incremental - not my use case, most of my files either never change (movies) or are small (text flees)

My main concerns with Seafile specifically are:

  • developed by a Chinese company and doesn’t seem particularly open to contributions
  • mostly written in C, so there’s a good chance of security vulnerabilities
  • documentation about the disk format isn’t very open, so third party tools don’t really exist
  • main target is larger orgs, so I’m unlikely to get very good support

With flat files, I can easily switch to a different service if my needs change.

oranki@piefed.social on 01 Jul 05:37 next collapse

Nextcloud, despite you're not considering it. You can disable or not install the apps you don't need, like Calendar, Contacts, Photos, Dashboard, Activity, etc.

There's also a fork of Filebrowser, called Filebrowser Quantum, which I've been interested in, though haven't tried yet: https://github.com/gtsteffaniak/filebrowser

sxan@midwest.social on 01 Jul 10:25 collapse

Have you ever used OwnCloud, before the fork?

I hated administrating OwnCloud, and that’s kept me away from NextCloud. OwnCloud was a big, resource hogging, hot mess; did NextCloud do a huge refactor and clean it up?

oranki@piefed.social on 01 Jul 13:48 next collapse

No, I haven't tried OC. Lot of people still prefer it over NC. I think both have come quite a long way since then.

I wouldn't say Nextcloud is hard to maintain, even less so if you keep the number of apps to a minimum. The initial setup may require some work, but small instances are mostly plug and play.

Note that I've never used AIO. If going for containers, the community images are better, despite AIO advertised as the official method. I recommend using Podman, check out

https://github.com/0ranki/nextcloud-previews

Also a blog post: https://oranki.net/posts/2025-01-02-self-hosting-my-way5-nextcloud/

feannag@sh.itjust.works on 04 Jul 03:25 collapse

I didn’t use OwnCloud, but I haven’t had much issue with Nextcloud. I run it bare metal on a pi 4 and haven’t had issues with resource hogging. Getting php to work when the update to php 8 was a bit of a pain but eventually figured it out.

ikidd@lemmy.world on 01 Jul 13:27 next collapse

I don’t get the sudden interest in Filebrowser. Never heard of the project before it went into Maintenance, now it seems like everyone wants to use it.

0x0@lemmy.zip on 01 Jul 13:54 next collapse

Whatever the alternative - or even googledrive - if you first store your files in a cryptomator folder then it really doesn’t matter where you sync them to.

percent@infosec.pub on 01 Jul 22:21 collapse

I started to go down that path, but then I heard that there were problems with data corruption

0x0@lemmy.zip on 02 Jul 09:45 collapse

No issues so far, got sources?
Anyway, always follow 3-2-1 for backups.

percent@infosec.pub on 03 Jul 03:54 collapse

Nah it was a while back. IIRC there were multiple sources, but I don’t remember any of them 🙃

Though, I don’t really remember the details either. Maybe it was OS specific? I know there was a dodgy FUSE implementation out there for macOS at some point, and Cryptomator depends mounts its local drive with FUSE. I use macOS and NixOS, so it coulda been that.

sandbag@lemmy.zip on 01 Jul 16:24 next collapse

Why not just cockpit with the file browser add-on?

paequ2@lemmy.today on 01 Jul 18:39 collapse

cockpit

A what now? 🔎 cockpit-project.org

sandbag@lemmy.zip on 03 Jul 12:54 collapse
percent@infosec.pub on 01 Jul 22:28 next collapse

I’ve been trying Peergos lately, and I’m pretty happy with it so far.

Google’s nagging offers for free trials of Gemini made me realize that I was basically handing data over to an AI company 🤦🏻‍♂️ So I’ve been looking for an alternative too

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 02 Jul 00:29 next collapse

Here’s what I’ve used and can recommend:

  • samba - just a network share
  • Nextcloud - full featured cloud suite (calendar, contacts, etc)
  • owncloud infinite scale (OCIS) or the Euro fork [Open Cloud]{opencloud.eu/en) - the POSIX driver has a flat file structure and still supports users and shared data; OCIS is designed for larger installations, but running on a smaller, single instance totally works too

Since you rejected NextCloud, check out the other two. I’m switching from NextCloud to OCIS right now, and I may end up using OpenCloud if development looks stable.

trk@aussie.zone on 02 Jul 11:19 collapse

I’ve run Nextcloud since OwnCloud was the only option, with zero issues on any setup - be it direct, via snap, or via docker.

(EDIT: Out of interest I looked up the first subdomain I can remember using - it sent my username the login details in February 2015 so that’s over a decade now!).

On a cheap VPS, a dedicated box, and now self hosted since I finally have a decent enough connection to support it. Ran out of storage on the VPS, then the 4TB dedicated box, now on 120TB self hosted (Nextcloud only using around 6TB mind you). CPU and RAM were never an issue.

Mostly documents (PDF, ODS, ODT), photos and videos from jobs, and some people (myself included) use the storage to back up their phone gallery.

I use shared and private folders, shared and private calendars, and shared and private contact lists on Android, iOS, and PCs (Windows and Linux). I have a public upload directory for customers to send us files and often share files directly using expiring read only links.

It’s easy and it works, no idea wtf people are doing to have so much drama with it.