[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

I had this issue.

Basically the deleted files go into the 'Bin' and you'll have to delete the files again from there.

Thanks for your response.
Do you mean the Bin folder that appears under the Google Apps on Android ?

Because on the desktop site no Bin folder gets displayed.
I did clear the Bin folder as well but still the % free space is not reducing. Will wait and see if it runs some Sync later.

Edit :
After 2hrs now I see that the storage free % on G-Drive also is showing the correct value. I guess it takes time to sync.

[binand]

Voted for SkyDrive (now OneDrive). Primarily because I pay for it.

I pay Rs. 5300 per year for a 5-user license of Office 365, which comes with 1 TB of OneDrive space for each account. That is more than ample for my purposes.

Dropbox and Google both have really low storage in comparison. But then I don't pay for either.

Funnily enough, both my almae matres offer lifetime accounts with Google - one of them comes with 30 GB storage but the other with a whopping 10 TB.

[NaXal]

Off late, just after Google backstabbed us by breaking their promise with Google Photos Unlimited backup storage, I started to tinker with various self hosted solutions to take advantage of the super fast fiber optics home broadband internet options.

Couple of years earlier, it wasn't feasible or technically practical to think about running an Internet enabled Home Server.

However, present broadband Internet penetration is excellent, specially with these no data cap, fiber to home connections, we have plenty of bandwidth to host our own cloud server right at home.

Did some tinkering and surprisingly I was able to build a home server for FREE & that too, very easily.

Few important points to note,

• No coding knowledge needed, anyone who can read English and know basic copy paste and enter key operation can do it. Just find the right tutorial with step by step guide.
• Every piece of software is open source and FREE.
• Old and rejected PC / Laptop hardware can be repurposed for building this Home Server. 13/14 year old Intel Core 2 Duo systems work just fine.

The setup I am running

NextCloud Home Server -> nextcloud.com

Internet Setup Over View,

I have a fiber to home local cable broadband with 250 mbps unlimited (no data cap) up / down connection. I can push it up to 500 or even 1 gbps if I choose to pay for higher monthly plan.

My Internet setup is a standard household setup, Fiber comes to ONU and that offers a Gigabit LAN cable out to my Wireless Router. My router further distributes the connection to all the connected devices.

Nothing special or fancy, as you may see, it's just like any other standard Indian House Hold.

Server Hardware Choice

I had the option to choose an old Intel Core i5 (first Generation) PC however, I opted for an old low powered laptop to save electricity in longer run since it would be running 24x7x365

Very Basic hardware, too weak for Windows 10 or 11 operation but Linux and server side operations run just fine (home use purpose).

Intel Pentium N3530 (Quad Core but very low powered CPU)
4GB DDR3L (Low powered modules)
1TB 5400 RPM HDD
Gigabit LAN Port (Connected to my router using CAT 6E Gigabit Ethernet)

Software Over View

Ubuntu + NextCloud (Snap) + OpenVPN (AWS Free tire EC2)

One of the major problem with most of the Indian ISP's are CG NAT. Our home CPE (like my fiber ONU) doesn't get Public IP Address. So without public IP address, the server can't be accessed from Internet.

To bypass this limitation, I am using an AWS always free tire Virtual Server. That get's a public IP and I am connecting my NextCloud Server using a VPN tunnel. Now when I am forwarding (AWS VPS) all incoming traffic of port 80/443 via VPN, anyone accessing the AWS VPS Public Static IP will end up landing at my home server.

Both AWS and my Home Server is running Ubuntu Server 20 LTS and they are connected together using OpenVPN.

Now at my home server, I am using NextCloud Snap installation, so its just one single command to install the entire stack (Web Server, DB Server, Apps and so on) on my Laptop Home Server. Along with couple of more commands (just copy pasting job to run those commands) to setup security / encryption and such.

And that is it.

NextCloud

Complete Backup and cloud storage solution. Comes with its own iOS / Android app for auto backup (just like Google Photos or G Drive). Not everyone needs everything, so just activate / install what you need using NextCloud Web Interface.

Done.

Once setup process is complete, it will run untouched. Just keep on using it.

NextCloud allows end to end encryption so not even the server admins can view the contents of other users. Extremely security and privacy oriented setup.

Here is my setup. Home server is running flawlessly, none stop, without any reboot or interruption. It's always available, data can be accessed, used, transferred from anywhere in the world at any time.



Not only me, my friends and family too use this server for their backup purpose, mainly as an alternative to Google Photos and Cloud Storage.



Caveat

There are two negatives of my personal setup.

1. My choice of CPU is very weak. So at most it can handle 3 simultaneous users doing heavy upload / download. Beyond that, CPU struggles to keep up and transfer speeds suffer. However, being a home server, I don't see all users are online always and pushing the CPU, so I selected this ultra low powered system to save on electricity bills.

Here is one such example at the time of onboarding when multiple users were doing their initial rounds of full backup.



2. My choice of a laptop platform, eliminates the option for a RAID setup for data safety. I have to use manual snap backup command to generate the backup and push it to my desktop HDD via my internal network. Easy one command job but have to do it once a week to ensure data safety (in case the laptop or HDD fails)

Conclusion

It was really easy to setup. Just finding the right tutorials and simple copy paste job.

Rather than making e-waste, I get to reuse and repurpose my old computers and have complete freedom from all these data mining companies and their monthly fees

Its been 3/4 months since I am running this setup and many friends are coming onboard after liking this setup. We are now thinking of making a pool to arrange for more powerful hardware and share the electricity / internet (higher speed) bills for the project.

Thanks.

P.S.

Here is my Internet enabled NextCloud Home Server located at a corner of my storage room. Gathering some surface dust (last cleaned it a month ago), but working flawlessly.



I forgot to add this image, so mods, kindly merge the post.

Thanks.

[GTO]

Moved my entire file syncing to Dropbox. Google Drive has been through way too many (confusing) software reiterations & rebranding exercises, but at the end of the day, its file syncing across computers was too slow & too unreliable.

Whenever I wake up my 2nd laptop from sleep mode, I can see Dropbox immediately start syncing all the files. But with Google Drive, there are instances where it hasn't started the file sync a FULL 30 MINUTES after I start working. It led to a few file conflicts and worse, a missing file or two.

Dropbox is 99.99% reliable. Google Drive is far from it.

[jalsa777]

I use a Microsoft 365 family license. It gives me 1TB cloud storage for 6 users (each user gets 1TB storage) plus all users get access to licensed Office apps for computer and phones. When i was studying, some friends came together and bought the license making it cheap and accessible for all.

I have considered setting up a home server using the method above or by using off the shelf NAS devices. However, with ay such project, unknowingly you end up spending quite some time and money on it over time. M365 works like a charm because i get other benefits over and above the storage part.

As with GTOs problem with google drive, that's unfortunate. OneDrive works like a charm in the syncing department, and the ability to simultaneously work on cloud synced word and excel files is a huge bonus. Once you start using it, you can't go back. (Useful only when you need to collaborate on work of course).

Off-topic
While i was a DIY guy when in school/college, overtime i've come to appreciate advantages of a good, reliable, hassle-free paid service. While i would still love to DIY, it's just not worth it anymore for me personally in the pleasure-money-time matrix. I'd rather spend the time saved with family or at work which will yield overall better returns on all metrics.

[cryptarchy]

I use iCloud, I have got Apple one subscription for 195/month, that includes music, 50gb cloud storage, arcade games, tv+, private internet relay and hide my email services. It integrates well within Apple systems but a pain to use the web ui on my Linux desktop.

[ruchiragrawal]

+1 on Jalsa777's post. I am using Microsoft 365's family plan as well. Really convenient, and Onedrive has the feature to automatically upload your phone's pictures as well.

One additional benefit is that you get autosave when using any Office product. And trust me, once you get used to autosave, you'd never want to go back. It keeps saving every single edit on the document/presentation/sheet on the cloud. I have been using this for the last 3 years and it has never failed me.

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by ruchiragrawal

+1 on Jalsa777's post. I am using Microsoft 365's family plan as well. Really convenient, and Onedrive has the feature to automatically upload your phone's pictures as well.

One additional benefit is that you get autosave when using any Office product. And trust me, once you get used to autosave, you'd never want to go back. It keeps saving every single edit on the document/presentation/sheet on the cloud. I have been using this for the last 3 years and it has never failed me.

I also have the 365 subscription. How do I activate the phone picture backup?

Also, is it safe to automatically backup files to OneDrive? I have had instances where I have suddenly lost excel docs and even the recovered files are not the latest.

[binand]

Originally Posted by samaspire

I also have the 365 subscription. How do I activate the phone picture backup?

You have to install the OneDrive app. All cloud storage providers offer this feature I think.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...osoft.skydrive

"Automatically upload photos and videos to your personal OneDrive account using Camera backup."

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by NaXal

One of the major problem with most of the Indian ISP's are CG NAT. Our home CPE (like my fiber ONU) doesn't get Public IP Address. So without public IP address, the server can't be accessed from Internet.

Agreed that every ISP uses CGNAT and the subscriber's router is getting a private IP address by default. But you could talk to your ISP to get yourself a public IP. My ISP gave me one for free, upon asking. I am running a Wireguard VPN server in my R-Pi and it is accessible via my public IP from anywhere, and it is incredibly fast (Almost equal to my connection speed).

In fact, my previous ISPs also gave me a public IP when I demanded one. Nobody actually charged for it. These are not big players and it is advantageous for me.

The other option is to ask them to forward a few ports from their edge to your home router's WAN IP. Almost the same as having a public IP but you just get a limited set of ports to play around with.

If you're on Jio Fibre, they have IPV6 by default and you can access your home devices from the outside world. This info is from one of my friends who uses the Jio Fibre connection. Not sure if it will require DynDNS or equivalent setup as well.

[CzechItaliaMoto]

Hi, do you have any suggestions on how to make a backup drive for CCTV systems? I have installed one set of cameras at my dad's house and made the mistake for opting for a 1TB surveillance drive instead of one of a higher capacity. Now the problem that we face is that all of the recordings get erased after 20 days which we didn't know of. A piggyback NAS system which comes with the two hard disk enclosures and the controller to power it does not seem very feasible as one costs easily around 20k. Is there any DIY solution to this? One thing I thought of was getting a SATA to USB adapter and connect the HDD and the DVR, but is there a way to bridge more than one HDDs the same way? I am unable to find enclosures which do that job. Thanks!

[siddhant]

Originally Posted by NaXal

Ubuntu + NextCloud (Snap) + OpenVPN (AWS Free tire EC2)

One of the major problem with most of the Indian ISP's are CG NAT. Our home CPE (like my fiber ONU) doesn't get Public IP Address. So without public IP address, the server can't be accessed from Internet.

To bypass this limitation, I am using an AWS always free tire Virtual Server. That get's a public IP and I am connecting my NextCloud Server using a VPN tunnel. Now when I am forwarding (AWS VPS) all incoming traffic of port 80/443 via VPN, anyone accessing the AWS VPS Public Static IP will end up landing at my home server.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this means even if you are at home, connected to your WiFi and want to sync some files with your server, the files will be transferred via internet rather than your local network. Having an option to bypass the VPN and directly connect to your sever over your LAN (when you are at home) would be a great addition to your setup.

[ruchiragrawal]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Also, is it safe to automatically backup files to OneDrive? I have had instances where I have suddenly lost excel docs and even the recovered files are not the latest.

I have not really had these instances, so I can't comment on that. I'd suggest saving it once in a folder that syncs to the cloud and then turning the autosave feature on. This way, whatever changes you make keep getting saved. And if due to any reason your physical file gets corrupted, you can always go to office 365 online, and it would show you the last autosave version of your file.

I have had instances where my files would get corrupted because I would access the same file from my work computer and home computer without properly closing from either one of the places. But nowadays, even if I try to access the same file from different devices, it just updates the information instead of throwing a fit (unless you try to update, say a cell in Excel, with different information from different devices at the same time)

[Rocketscience]

Due to Apple's introduction of memory card free phones and storage upgrades (when purchasing) being pricy, I'am using iCloud for 75 bucks which includes 50GB storage and all the icloud+ features and all.
Find the pricing reasonable especially considering it is Apple, I don't really need this feature but all my other devices - iPad for instance syncs absolutely seamlessly and that and my phone are mostly on the same page all the time. (Prior to that I had all pictures in my iPhone with itunes backup, my iPad, macbook had no photos, they do now which is a plus I guess)
Pretty happy with it honestly.

[rnkgrg]

I really like what you have done over here. I had also set up a home server last year, albeit for a different purpose. I set up a Plex server with almost 2TB of movies and series, hoping that it would substitute my requirement for a Netflix subscription but boy was I wrong. As the content increased, the cost of the set up shot up, and subscribing felt like a more prudent decision.