Is there a reasonable cloud storage method?

14 respostas [Última entrada]
cdupree
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Joined: 07/03/2013

Now that I'm pretty successfully transitioned to Triskel from Kubuntu as regards my desktop, I'm wondering if there's a reasonable replacement for the Dropbox/SpiderOak-type application.

It appears that git-annex assistant for the version of Ubuntu used by Trisquel/Triskel was not built with the webapp, so I'd have to build it from source. Since I was hoping for something I could use both personally and to share I want something more smoothly packaged.

I checked out ownCloud, which is smoother to download but still not trivial.

Does anyone have a cloud storage setup they like, and if so why?

Magic Banana

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Joined: 07/24/2010

What about SparkleShare? It is in Trisquel's repository.

cdupree
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Joined: 07/03/2013

I tried to install SparkleShare with Synaptic but it complained that a long list of libs was required but unavailable and not about to be installed. I suppose I need something basic that I haven't got. There were a very small number of files that didn't start with 'lib', one of which was 'mono'. I marked that for installation and it complained about unavailable libs.

I've just moved to Trisquel/Triskel a few days ago and my impression is that my system is up to date. But apparently I'm missing something. Any suggestions?

quantumgravity
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Joined: 04/22/2013

Hey
cdupree,

i'm experimenting a bit with cloud software on my raspberry pi (found
out too late about the non-free restrictions of it).
Owncloud was much too slow for my purposes.
At the moment I'm using seafile.
It is very quick and does everything I need.
But in my opinion, there is one disadvantage:
it has its own server, so it does not use apache by default.
I don't know much about server security, but I know it's very important;
for apache, there are tons of tutorials how to make it more or less
secure.
I don't have any info about the "seafile server", so I don't dare to
open up my ports, which is no final solution.
Beside of this, I think it uses more resources if you want to run other
apache applications;

You can try out sparkleshare if you like; I have no experience with it.

//edit
oh I forgot to mention:
seafile is not in the repositories, but in order to install it on the server, you simply have to copy and paste the folder onto it.
Very easy! Don't have to compile anything.

cdupree
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Joined: 07/03/2013

This is very helpful, thanks!

As to the server part, what are you doing? Do you rent space from someone or host the server yourself? If the latter, don't you need a static IP?

quantumgravity
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Joined: 04/22/2013

I host everything myself;
you can solve the problem with the static ip easily with a service like noip.com (it's free of charge).
A small script (included in the free-debian repos, don't know about trisquel) sends the new ip to noip.com and then your domain gets linked to the new ip instead of the old.

If you decide to host everything yourself, you will gain much more privacy and independence and you will learn a lot about servers;
I was astonished how easy everything was.

lembas
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Joined: 05/13/2010

I've been pondering doing this myself. How are the costs?

quantumgravity
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Joined: 04/22/2013

Due to the low energy consumption of the pi I calculated a few euro / month.
I don't pay for any other service but my normal internet connection.
So it's very cheap!

cdupree
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Joined: 07/03/2013

This sounds great, it's what I really want. I looked at NoIP and will try to set this up when my reinstall finishes. Can you tell me the name of that script, or where to look for it?

t3g
t3g
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Joined: 05/15/2011

You COULD use Dropbox, Google Drive, Skydrive, or Ubuntu One if you had to in a pinch, but if you choose to do so, make sure the files are encrypted with a GPG key or something similar. They won't be able to open it on their server without the private key (even if the public key is on server) and the decryption can be done on your end.

t3g
t3g
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Joined: 05/15/2011

Oops... I meant using GnuGPG to use PGP.

quantumgravity
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Joined: 04/22/2013

Can you please explain / give a link how to do this with files on dropbox?
I would love to have some backups on a server away from my home, but I only want to do it in an encrypted way.
At the moment, I'm using bcrypt for this, but perhaps with gnupg it's easier?

Mampir
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Joined: 12/16/2009

I haven't used dropbox and I don't know if GNUPG is optimal for the job. GNUPG is typically used for encryption between people and digital signatures. But here's how you can use GNUPG to encrypt your files using the terminal.

First you make a key pare - a private and a public key. You use the public key to encrypt files. Later you use the private key decrypt those same files:

gpg --key-gen

You'll be asked several questions. For technical questions you can stick to the default option. You'll be asked to enter your "real name" which will identify your keys, but you can enter anything you want there.

You'll be asked for an optional pass phrase. If someone somehow gets hold of your private key he'll be able to decrypt your files, but he will have to know your pass phrase too, if you use one. Your public key is save to pass around - it can only be used to encrypt file, but not decrypt them.

When you're done your new keys will be stored in ~/.gnupg. Your private key is there, so keep it safe.

You encrypt a file like that:

gpg -e file.txt

You'll be asked which private key to use for the encryption. Enter your "real name" which identifies your key. That's it. The encrypted file will be named file.txt.gpg.

You decrypt a file like this:

gpg < file.txt.gpg > file.txt

You'll be asked for a pass phrase, if your private key requires it. That's all.

quantumgravity
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Joined: 04/22/2013

Thanks, I'll try out!

BlinkingArrow

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Joined: 12/27/2011

You could also take a look at duplicity in the repos.