Hey,
I have zero background in computers and i dont understand technical terms and such but i love to be tinkering. I was wondering if i can create a “cloud storage server” using linode or such. And if yes how?
initially this is what i had typed as i was researching
" I have been using iCloud for quite a while now to store everything that i might need anywhere and as a backup to all the work/academic work that i never want to loose. I’ll be done with college in the next few months and i am planning to ditch my laptop (MacBook Pro 2017) for a variety of reasons. I had been using icloud, as the computers i used in college are macs, and i have an ipad pro that i use all the time, also from what i know its more private thatn Google Drive and Onedrive. I hate google. Once I graduate I will be having a linux box or something, so iCloud isn’t any convinient for me anymore. I would like to know of a cloud storage service which is private, preferably opensource, and does not claim any rights to use my data for their needs.
I am not a data hoarder, so I dont need a lot of storage, sub 500GB storage works great for me. I am ready to pay the equivalent of $8-10 per month for the storage. "
I think the quick and and dirty answer is to deploy a Nextcloud server on an ubuntu/debian server via snap but your experience would probably be horrible if you use the 5USD tier of server.
Personally i’d probably go for a Debian server that you only spin up during the actual backup process then run rsync or another program to do the actual syncing. Then power down the server again.
Yes, you can. I have a VPS at a similar company to Linode, and am running a couple of services from it. Nextcloud, Syncthing, and a couple of non-storage things.
If you are going to take charge of your data, that includes backups. Either make sure to make local backups, probably an external HDD or two is a good option or backup to another online service. Or both.
If backing up to another service, it would be good for them to be totally separate, ie not from the same company. Also, don’t pay for them with the same method/card, as if say your Paypal is frozen, then all your data goes bye-bye in a month.
If you are backing up to a local device, try to have multiple copies in different physical locations. So one with you, and one with a relative or friend.
Personally, I do not use their offer, but you will probably find something for your needs only a matter of how much you want to spend $
First answer two questions yourself. How much can you spend each month. And what exactly do you need.
You want to have your own server with linux, based on a virtual machine (VPS) or a bare metal, i.e. a dedicated server. Or you need solutions for online backup storage.
While in the case of a backup you can use all three solutions more or less, in the case of a dedicated backup solution you are limited only to the place of data storage without the possibility of doing anything else.
There are many online backup offers on the market, usually cloud-based. Prices vary depending on capacity and data transfer when recovering data.
VPS is usually a cheap solution to have a tiny server, but usually these cheap offers are very limited in terms of performance and rather have a very small amount of space for data.
Dedicated server, i.e. bare metal, a physical real server in the server room entirely intended only for you. There are also many of these offers on the market. And prices depend on the parameters.
The most versatile option for general applications and in terms of performance will be a dedicated server. But at the same time it can be quite expensive.
VPS may be a cheap option but it will be rather slow and have a small HDD capacity. In addition, such a virtual machine works on bare metal together with a whole bunch of other VPS so performance can be very bad in extreme cases.
A dedicated cloud for backup will offer a lot of space but nothing more than a place to store data.
Which option is for you and which company would be better? In a way, you have to decide yourself when you answer the first two questions.
Can Linode Object Storage be used to store private backups? Yes
Is this the best solution for this? imho I’m not entirely convinced.
I don’t mind paying $8-10 a month for about 500gb of data. I am not going to be hoarding anything. I just need it for the work I have done in college and freelance.
What I am looking at majorly is something like an alternative to iCloud drive or Google Drive. I was going through the privacy policy of OneDrive and Google Drive and saw something in the lines of they are allowed to use my data in any possible way. I don’t want that.
It means you power up your VM via Linode’s web interface, then SSH into your server then manually type the command to back up your local data or make it to automatically run a backup script during the boot up of your remote server. After it syncs, you go back to Linode’s web interface then power it down again.
You can look at kimsufi, If the location in France or Canada suits you.
KS1 in Canada up to $10/mo and you have your own server with 500GB HDD.
KS1, 2, 3 in France 500GB, 1TB, 2TB up to $10/mo
If it must be linode, please note that this offer has limits on outgoing transfers as opposed to French.
Object-storage from linode for $10/mo you will get 500GB and 1TB for outgoing transfer.
Standard-linodes is expensive, for 640GB $160/mo
Block Storage 640GB $64
Linode is expensive if we consider what you want to use for.
Does it necessarily have to be an online backup? If not, a small NAS, Odroid HC2 and large HDD at home.
As for the data, always encrypt it regardless of where and what solution you will have.
In your case, I would personally think about a cheap dedicated server with a 1TB disk or two server for additional copy or going towards dedicated cloud solutions for backups.
Alternatively you can purchase an external drive and keep it in a secure storage somewhere like a bank or alternatively in your parent’s house. Then every month, you take it out, back up your files and return it. What is important is that it is located in a site distant enough that local phenomenon such as flood, tornadoes, earthquake will not affect both locations at the same time.
Upside - spend only once and replace the external HDD after about 3-5 years or when it starts to fail. Weirdly enough there is no SMART test for the external HDD I currently own (which I use for CCTV - network video recording).
Downside - This is feasible only if you travel often to the second location, like weekly or at least monthly (you do visit your parents frequently, right?).
