Dropbox/Drive/OneDrive alternative
I finally got around to installing Tailscale (why did I put it off for so long) and can successfully access my *arr apps from outside my home network. While I'm motivated, the next thing that's been on my to do list for too long is a dropbox type backup…
I finally got around to installing Tailscale (why did I put it off for so long) and can successfully access my *arr apps from outside my home network. While I'm motivated, the next thing that's been on my to do list for too long is a dropbox type backup solution. I'm only really looking for what Dropbox was at its release - a synced folder from my computer to my server - with little fluff. Up until now all I've done is map a network drive in Windows and copy/paste files when I remember to, but that's not super reliable because I'm not super reliable 🫠 Need to have: Real time (or close to it) file sync. Local copy on my laptop but a backed up copy on my server. As much set-it-and-forget-it as possible. Desktop and Android client. Good performance, I have an i3-9100 (4 cores, 4 threads) so I can't really devote core(s) to it. Nice to have but not necessary: Versioning, ability to share individual files/folders1 Don't need/want: Bloat, office suite, antivirus etc 1 Right now I only have Tailscale set up for myself/personal access so this is a lower priority. Couple of options I've come across on google and, as I understand, some pros/cons Nextcloud or Nextcloud AIO: Mature product, maybe the most talked about. Lots of conflicting opinions out there ranging from "Never update it, it will break and you'll lose everything", to "Mine's been rock solid nothing ever breaks". Feel like "nothing ever breaks" can't be true when the official container docs say updates will break indices. Choose between a more fiddly install (Nextcloud +Maria or Postgres) or a simpler install with more bloat (AIO). Seafile: Less feature bloat, faster. Complicated setup. Proprietary FUSE filesystem, files stored in blobs, if it dies then good luck. Filerun: Simple, no bloat, fast? Some drama around the licensing. With any/all free software drama I take both sides' arguments with a grain of salt. €99 is steep if there was ever more drama down the line eg "Your lifetime sub was for version 4, version 5 is a complete re-write so it's a new license" like I've seen with other software. If it was true lifetime then the cost wouldn't bother me. If it was free for 1 user I'd probably spin it up, but I don't think 14 days is long enough for me to put it through its paces. Also has no native android app... If I'm going to use the nextcloud app then why not just use nextcloud in the first place? Filebrowser: Honestly didn't get far into researching this one. Opened the Github page, saw its EoL and didn't really look any further. Has anyone tried and compared these options, or are there any I'm missing?
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One correction to the plan, though: what you described is sync, but you said backup, and the difference bites exactly once. Sync faithfully replicates your mistakes — a deletion or an encrypting piece of malware on the laptop arrives at the server seconds later, in real time, as designed. That's a good point, not what I'm worried about currently but worth taking into account. My big thing right now is that I'm building a house, so I have countless docs. Surveys, permits, engineering signoffs, design drawings, quotes... The list goes on and on and on. I have them in a well organised folder on my laptop but if something happened to it [my laptop] it would be a huge pain to reorganize it all (but entirely possible because most of it is in Gmail somewhere). Staggered versioning would be worth turning on though because the folder is pretty small in real world terms (less than 1gb) so the storage would be relatively small for the security.
Will do thanks
I can as well, but that relies on me remembering to copy files from my pc to my server and I don't always remember to do that
I just got word of this tool and it looks promising, although mobile use seems to be a bit more difficult to manage, what's your experience so far?
Because of the docker compose? The official one was terrible for me. I found a simpler one in a forum. just opencloud without Extras. I use it only in my Network, maybe add traefik later on
then create a share between your PC and your server. Then you have a three-way-sync.
yes Opencloud after trying nextcloud and seafile, best in evreything also no Blob for files easy backups if needed
Check out opencloud.
I’ve been using this and it’s been reliable. Maybe not the most feature rich, but works perfectly fine as a Dropbox alternative, allowing me to share files with others, or allowing others to safely drop files onto my server.
wait, what? when i connect to tailscale, i can easily reach my smb shares and copy/paste data directly onto my server. for everything else, i use syncthing.
It's great and so snappy compared to next cloud but I must admit that it wasn't a breeze to set it up
I vote Nextcloud AIO for a Dropbox replacement, but based on what you described sounds like you would like backup method for your laptop. In which case Syncthing sounds like you want. Maybe Copy Party for quick remote directory access.
Can recommend OpenCloud. They have desktop and mobile apps and the sharing options are good, too.
Since Tailscale is already in place, Syncthing is the closest thing to "Dropbox at release": peer-to-peer folder sync straight over your tailnet, near-real-time, and nothing to remember — which fixes the actual failure mode you described (the unreliable part being you). One correction to the plan, though: what you described is sync, but you said backup, and the difference bites exactly once. Sync faithfully replicates your mistakes — a deletion or an encrypting piece of malware on the laptop arrives at the server seconds later, in real time, as designed. Two cheap fixes on top of Syncthing: Turn on Staggered File Versioning for the folder on the SERVER side. When the laptop changes or deletes something, the server quietly keeps the old version — that's your "oops" button, and it costs one checkbox. If any of it is genuinely irreplaceable, point restic at the server's copy nightly, to a different disk or bucket. Sync keeps the folders identical; versioning plus a snapshot makes the setup survivable.
Copyparty and rclone mounted WebDAV on your pc. Been using this setup for years, it’s amazing
OpenCloud is really nice. https://github.com/opencloud-eu
Check out resilio sync (paid) or syncthing (free). I've been a pretty long time user of resilio sync after i moved on from dropbox. Might be worth taking a look
I’ve wanted something like this for years. The closest open source option is karadav (PHP WebDAVserver that supports Nextcloud and OwnCloud clients). Super simple, fast and lightweight but doesn’t support iOS and macOS. I forked the repo and added support for iOS and macOS and it’s been working great for a couple months. Caveat emptor (vibeslop) but the changes were reasonably simple and it’s really great not having to deal with the full Next/Own/OpenClood stack. https://github.com/adamshand/karadav
Sync-in
If you really just want to keep two folders in sync, a fileshare like nfs / smb is the most basic solution. If there are technical reasons, that is not an option, Id suggest taking a look at syncthing. If you dont like it, there is a plethora of services to try. I settled with seafile. It syncs files and works. No bullshit. Nextcloud is what many recommend, I used it for a few years. But for me its slow and bloated with their "apps" and stuff. Then there is Opencloud, which is a nextcloud/owncloud fork or copyparty. Both are rather new. Copyparty looks pretty cool.
How could AIO possibly break? It’s all in one package. Doesn’t need anything from outside other than docker engine. Indexing doesn’t break , it could be reset. It is probably reset in Dropbox too. No big deal, it will be recreated. It’s much better than Dropbox or google in my experience (except maybe the sync part, where nothing probably beats Dropbox).