Cloud storage is nothing but an enterprise-level cloud data storage model to store the digital data in logical pools, across the multiple servers. You can use a hosting company such as Amazon, Google, Rackspace, Dropbox and others for keeping your data available and accessible 24x7. You can access data stored on cloud storage via API or desktop/mobile apps or web based systems.
In this post, I'm going to list amazingly awesome open source cloud storage engines that you can use to access and sync your data privately for security and privacy reasons.
Why use open source cloud storage software?
The cloud - Source http://www.xkcd.net/908/
- Create a cloud on your own server or in a data center.
- Control and own your own data.
- Privacy protection.
- Encryption.
- Verify source code for bugs and/or backdoors.
- Avoid spying on your files on the server using encryption.
- Legal compliance - HIPAA and others.
- Good performance as your data stored in local storage instead of remote data center.
- Good reliability and availability due to local LAN. You are no longer depends upon WAN bandwidth or the service provider for network.
- No artificially imposed limits on storage space or client connections and more
- Share your files and data with or without password or time limit. Share it publicly, or privately. No 3rd party corporation own your data.
Suggested sample cloud storage setup for home users
+----------------+
Internet/ISP----|Router/Wireless |
+----+-----------+
|
+----+---+
|Home Lan|
+--------+ +-------------------+
| | Raspberry Pi |
+-------+ Or Intel |
| Atom based server |
| + |
| Cloud storage |
+-------------------+
You can use the Raspberry Pi or an Intel Atom CPU based small server as a home cloud storage system. Use an external USB drive or secure backup service such as rsync.net/tarsnap.com to backup your cloud server in an encrypted format. This setup ensures that you keep all your data and not to trust the entirety of your personal data to a corporation.
Seafile: Easy to setup cloud storage for home users
Seafile is a file hosting cloud storage software to store files. You can synchronized files and data with PC and mobile devices easily or use the server's web interface for managing your data files. There is no limits on data storage space (except for hard disk capacity) or the number of connected clients to your private server (except for CPU/RAM capacity).
 |
| Operating system: Cross-platform (written in C and Python) - MS-Windows/Raspberry Pi/Linux private server |
| Desktop clients: Yes (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux) |
| Mobile clients: Yes (Android/iPad/iPhone) |
| Type: File cloud storage and data synchronization |
| Paid support: Yes via Professional Edition |
| Licence: GPLv3 (Community Edition) |
| Download: seafile.com |
ownCloud: Dropbox replacement
ownCloud is another very popular file hosting cloud storage software and often described as Dropbox replacement. Just like Dropbox you can synchronizes your files to your private server. Files placed in ownCloud server are accessible via the mobile and desktop apps. You can add external storage to your ownCloud with Dropbox, SWIFT, FTPs, Google Docs, S3, external WebDAV servers and more. Enable the encryption app to encrypt data on external storage for improved security and privacy.
 |
| Operating system: Cross-platform (written in PHP & JavaScript) - MS-Windows/Linux private server |
| Desktop clients: Yes (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux) |
| Mobile clients: Yes (Android/Apple iOS) |
| Type: File cloud storage and data synchronization |
| Paid support: Yes via Enterprise Edition |
| Licence: AGPLv3 |
| Download: owncloud.org |
git-annex assistant
The git-annex assistant creates a synchronised folder on each of your OSX and Linux computers, Android devices, removable drives, NAS appliances, and cloud services. You can manage, share, and sync your large files with the power of git and the ease of use of a simple folder you drop files into. Please note that the software is still under heavy development and new features are added regularly.
 |
| Operating system: Cross-platform - MS-Windows(beta)/Linux/OS X/FreeBSD/Docker private server |
| Desktop clients: No (porting) |
| Mobile clients: Yes (Android) |
| Type: File cloud storage and data synchronization |
| Paid support: ??? |
| Licence: GPL version 3 |
| Download: git-annex.branchable.com |
SparkleShare: Easy to use cloud storage with git as a storage backend
It is also a Dropbox clone and very easy to setup. From the project site:
SparkleShare creates a special folder on your computer. You can add remotely hosted folders (or "projects") to this folder. These projects will be automatically kept in sync with both the host and all of your peers when someone adds, removes or edits a file.
 |
| Operating system: Cross-platform (written in C#) - MS-Windows/Linux/OS X |
| Desktop clients: Yes ( MS-Windows/Linux/OS X) |
| Mobile clients: No (Android/iOS on hold) |
| Type: File and data synchronization |
| Paid support: ??? |
| Licence: GPL version 3 |
| Download: sparkleshare.org |
Syncthing for private, encrypted & authenticated distribution of data
Syncthing is an open-source file synchronization client/server application, written in Go. It replaces proprietary sync and cloud services with something open, trustworthy and decentralized.
 |
| Operating system: Cross-platform (written in Go) - Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Android, BSD, Solaris |
| Desktop clients: Yes (MS-Windows/Linux/OS X/OpeBSD and Unix-like) |
| Mobile clients: Yes (Android/F-Driod) |
| Type: File and data synchronization |
| Paid support: ??? |
| Licence: GPL version 3 |
| Download: syncthing.net |
Stacksync cloud storage
StackSync is an open-source scalable Personal Cloud that can adapt to the necessities of organizations. It puts a special emphasis on security by encrypting data on the client side before it is sent to the server.
 |
| Operating system: Linux |
| Desktop clients: Yes (MS-Windows/Linux/) |
| Mobile clients: Yes (Android) |
| Type: File and data synchronization |
| Paid support: ??? |
| Licence: GPL version 2 |
| Download: stacksync.org |
OpenStack Object Storage (Swift)
Swift is a scalable redundant storage system. Objects and files are written to multiple disk drives spread throughout servers in the data center, with the OpenStack software responsible for ensuring data replication and integrity across the cluster. Please note that Swift is meant for a large or enterprise users only and not recommended for home users due to complex setup procedures.
| Operating system: Cross-platform (written in Python) |
| Desktop clients: ??? |
| Mobile clients: ??? |
| Type: File, data synchronization and more |
| Paid support: ??? |
| Licence: Apache License 2.0 |
| Download: openstack.org |
Conclusion
Personally, I'm using Owncloud as FOSS based cloud solution for my file sharing with friends and family. It offers me Calendar, Contacts, and Dropbox like storage. My cloud server has total 5 disks, 2 Gib RAM, and an Intel atom cpu. I use a Debian Linux with RAID 6. I backup my cloud to an external USB drive and currently, testing tarsanp backup service. I'm also planning to try out SparkleShare on the Raspberry Pi soon.
Such an amazing blog about the cloud storage software and I really appreciate you work which you have done well.
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