Private Cloud Storage

FuzzyDunlop

I've finally managed to setup GOS on my device and it feels great. Thanks to everyone who contributes to the project, from the dev to those who've been sharing useful tips.

I'm wondering what everyone is using for their cloud storage. There are a bunch of sites ranking the "best cloud services" but somehow I don't trust them (but will probably trust anon users on forums, go figure). I'm looking at nextcloud or crypyomator + provider, but I'm not sure about the effort required to setup and maintain my own cloud, and would like frictionless access to my data on my devices.

Any viable alternatives out there?

matchboxbananasynergy

FuzzyDunlop Hello there!

Firstly, I want to say congratulations for installing GrapheneOS! Welcome to the community. :)

Regarding cloud storage, I've been coming around to the opinion that it doesn't really matter what you're using if you're taking the proper precautions, such as encrypting your files with a tool like Cryptomator.

As that is the case, I would most likely trust my (encrypted) data with a company like Google, as I believe they offer the most reliability, as well as options to secure my account's login.

FuzzyDunlop

matchboxbananasynergy Thanks!

Are you using Cryptomator to upload gallery photos automatically? I'm guessing you have to authenticate every time you want to open a folder/vault right?

ve3jlg

matchboxbananasynergy As that is the case, I would most likely trust my (encrypted) data with a company like Google, as I believe they offer the most reliability,

Google has proven to be pretty reliable, with only occasional widespread outages.

There was a time when I could not get into my biz (gmail) account (used only for testing reception of important list email, and for using Google webmaster) no matter how many 'reset' mechanisms I tried over and over. It turns out that I was being blocked for using IPV6 but that took a long time to determine. Now I am concerned that Google could lock me out for any reason at any time (like they want my mobile number as a tracking index key but will not actually state this).

With respect to using their service, could you share what Google's obligation to keep and make your data available to you is, and their privacy policy when you connect to their services (using your connecting IP, metadata, etc.)?

pinsl

I use syncthing and I'm very happy with it. I have it running on all my devices and an always on raspberry pi.

FuzzyDunlop

pinsl I've used that in the past and it's also an option.

[deleted]

I have tresorit (and protondrive, but still en beta), quite expensive, but it's end to end encrypted automatically.
I find it more convenient than using a third party tool as cryptomator.

I prefer not to host at home, I don't have the knowledge to ensure a good level of security for my own infrastructure.

ve3jlg

[deleted] I prefer not to host at home, I don't have the knowledge to ensure a good level of security for my own infrastructure.

and another good reason is physical. It increases the risk of losing all your data in a fire, flood or theft. Hosting at home may require a backup somewhere else.

Whatnoww

I've been hosting a Nextcloud for a few months now and have been super happy with it.

Arnauld

Hi,
My set up is as follow:
I bought a raspberry pi 3 (a cheap small computer) and installed Yunohost on it. Yunohost (just search Yunohost on the net) is a server easy to install and run, then installed Nextcloud on it (it's a click and play operation, very easy to install). The raspberry pi runs 24/7 and consumes very little electricity, when you set up Yunohost on it it will provide you with a domain name or you can use your own...

If this solution is too difficult for you, you may find a Nextcloud instance on the net if you pay a small fee...

If you need help ask me.

tpax

I have been self-hosting NextCloud for couple of years now. I use it for file sync, as well as privately synching my contacts and calendars between devices.

Wonderfall

My experience: I've been using Nextcloud for almost 10 years (prior to 2016 I was of course using ownCloud), which I've been self-hosting, but to be honest I'm not a huge fan of the bloated codebase it has become. It's also abnormally slow despite aggressive caching. Also, self-hosting isn't something I'd recommend for security.

E2EE support in their clients is very lacking despite E2EE being advertised as a first-class feature. Server-side encryption has no real benefits compared to that.

Nowadays I'm considering to distrust servers as much as possible, whether these servers are self-hosted or not. I'm eyeing at Cryptomator + a simple WebDAV nginx server, and in the long term, I'd love for ProtonDrive to be successful. I'm actually using the PWA sometimes. Client-side encryption features for Google Drive would be welcome too.

applesbana

Wonderfall

Sorry to revive an old thread, but are you happy with where proton drive is now? I’ve been debating what to use for cloud storage with e2e and was leaning towards cryptomator but would love your insight

FuzzyDunlop

I've managed to setup Nextcloud in the past, but running and securing my own server scares me a bit.

TheGodfather

Been self-hosting Nextcloud and using two managed Nextcloud server. All of them were terribly slow. Had a few strange bugs and the self-hosted one just stopped working without any known cause. The Android app is also buggy, freezes often and I had to resort to a third-party app because of these problems. And don't even let me start talking about extending Nextcloud with NC apps. Tbh Nextcloud feels like Beta software all over the place. I would never use it for something which needs reliability, like a business.

I also would advice against self-hosting for most users. There is so much to take care of and one small misconfiguration could put your server and data at risk. If you are not versed at self-hosting, it will be a massive waste of time. If you nevertheless want to self-host, put it behind a VPN or Cloudflare Tunnel to have an additional layer of security.

I haven't found the perfect solution so far. Cryptomator + Office 365 Family with up to 6x1TB Onedrive is the unbeaten price champion if you need up to 6TB or need to buy MS Office anyway. I am unsure how much Microsoft can do with metadata and telemetry in this case. And the question is how do you deal with contacts and calendar in this case, which can't be easily encrypted synced? Etesync is in theory a good solution for E2EE contact and calendar sync, but their Windows solution looks more like a hack than a proper solution.

akc3n

@FuzzyDunlop May I mark this thread as solved?

MetropleX

applesbana using Cryptomator means you don't really have to worry what you use. I've used it with Dropbox but as my sub ran out I'm taking time over Christmas to consider others.

[deleted]

I really struggle with this every year.... I just can't figure out the best solution so far I keep using Tresorit but I am more then open to switch.

I need security, privacy, simplicity, stability.

The above suggestion with Cryptomator is something I have tried in the paste, but I didn't like to fact that all my data is stored encrypted on a local vault, it is not like Tresorit that the data is encrypted on the fly when uploaded to the cloud. Somehow it worried me, and I don't have enough resource to keep the data unencrypted locally as well.

Also using Cyrptomator with Google would be insane for me, because I would still need to login to Google that is really the last thing I want to do.

Without going in too much details, I do want to add, I have tested with, sync.com, dropbox, icedrive, filen.io, protondrive, synology nas, nextcloud and others but never really found a sweet spot.

I would like to see suggestions and opinions from other people.

mythodical

[deleted] Syncthing has become my go-to solution for "cloud" storage. As they say, the cloud is just someone else's server. We use Syncthing to synchronize camera rolls, docs, media, KeePass databases, etc. across multiple devices and hosts. It is open source, decentralized and provides E2EE. There are apps for Android, Windows, Linux, and iOS (possibly macOS too).

Such2938

[deleted]

but I didn't like to fact that all my data is stored encrypted on a local vault, it is not like Tresorit that the data is encrypted on the fly when uploaded to the cloud.

What's the issue with being encrypted on a local vault?

Why did filen.io disappoint?

flambulant

You might want to take Seafile into your considerations. It's open source on client and server side, it offers e2e encryption as well as sharing unencrypted files.
There are companies offering seafile based storage at reasonable charges.

[deleted]

Such2938

I definitly want a unencrypted version of my files, I just don't trust Cryptomator enough.

Regarding Filen.io without going into too many details, I never experienced such a bad/disrespectful support ever from a company.