Hi guys, I been looking into creating my own secure cloud.
I have a window home server set up but not the best on a home network for streaming and accessing from the other side of the net.
Can you recommend a secure and stable platform for trying to achieve this? and possibly a half decent hosting company?
Thank you in advance
Sam
Host yourself with yunohost.org.
It's based on Debian, and works out of the box. Configuration is automated and literally involves answering 4 questions.
Thanks for the recommendation Zoltan, I will have a look at this. I want this to be hosted offsite as a backup cloud. Pic(a lot), some docs and work files (which are all encrypted with truecrypt).
yunohost is an all-encompassing private cloud solution. It integrates services like zerobin, which is a pastebin-like service, and even has a service that allows non-users to upload data to your server with a unique private URL. You can also activate your own email service, social network, etc... you select the services you want to activate.
I would recommend installing it with the automated install script on a fresh Debian stable install. Alternatively you could use a dedicated yunohost image, which is the way to go if you want to use a Raspberry Pi as server. On PC's though, the added flexibility of using the install script on a preinstalled fresh Debian Stable, is a big bonus in my opinion. It allows you for instance to use a grsec kernel for a hardened server, and allows you to virtualize the yunohost server, or run it in an lxc 1.0 with strict privileges.
I would not advise running the install script on an Ubuntu host, even though it will probably work. The reason for this is that lxc 1.0 is a larger security benefit than AppArmor, which doesn't work anyway most of the time, and is not adequate for server hardening anyway, and when using lxc, you basically have to drop the privilege limitations because of AppArmor, something that is not necessary on grsec or selinux hardened systems, which are much more secure anyway. Depending on the hardware, I would definitely recommend either Debian Stable with a grsec kernel, or CentOS with full selinux protection, although I must say that I'm not a big fan of CentOS anymore since RedHat has usurped CentOS (and de facto the same goes for Fedora). The automated install script for yunohost only works on Debian package based distros, so if you want to use an RPM-based host system, you'll have to pull in the necessary packages manually (they're all open source, so that's perfectly possible), and you'll have to manually configure them, instead of using yunohost. What yunohost does, is basically automating the configuration of a number of pretty bog standard linux applications that everybody uses for the Internet of things. You get exactly the same RoundCube as on premium Kolab solutions, which are equally easy to use, and free, but are aimed at another type of users. If yunohost is too easy for you, you might therefore also take a look at the Kolab open source software, which integrates more services, but from more of an enterprise-usage angle instead of a private cloud angle.
Thank Zoltan, Just been playing with it on the Raspberry Pi. I really like the interface. Install for the Pi was really easy. I'm gunna play with it for a few days and if all goes well i will pop it on a Debian server. Thank you for the recommendation and advise, much appreciated.
Maybe check owncloud to.. I find it to be pretty usefull.
owncloud! literally does what you want. enable https if you like. configure the machine to allow internal access only or let it run from outside as well. sync client works similarly to dropbox. pm if you need help setting it up. however i have never done it on a windows server (screw that GUI) only on ubuntu server. i use it myself and my wife uses it for her photo back ups. so many pictures...as for hosting company, i got nothing. host it yourself or it isn't all that secure
this is a cool thing. Combine that with this: http://sealedabstract.com/code/nsa-proof-your-e-mail-in-2-hours/ and you've got a pretty good setup. I'm addicted to the crack that is the activesync protocol.
Lol, is that still around even? Isn't everyone on IMAP+ these days on mobile devices?
Hello, i am a complete noob when it come to Linux hosting so i'm probably doing it wrong, I have a Debian virtual machine with yunohost running, i have installed owncloud and everything seems to be working but, i cant figure out how to get to the client interface of yunohost every time i try i get to the admin login. Any help and i will by greatly thankful, =)