DIY Dropbox Alternatives

Is using another third party service by Neil_Brown · 2011-07-26 22:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

really "building your own" solution?

I appreciate that one could argue that using software you haven't written yourself shouldn't count, but putting something together with a Linux box running Apache, WebDAV and various other things seems more "building your own" than simply using an existing third party alternative, as the article recommends.

Re:Is using another third party service by Neil_Brown · 2011-07-26 22:43 · Score: 2, Insightful

If that is "building your own", I guess I can say proudly that I built my own washing machine, in that I bought a washing machine, put it in place, plumbed it in and switched it on...
Re:Is using another third party service by frap · 2011-07-26 22:44 · Score: 1

really "building your own" solution?
I appreciate that one could argue that using software you haven't written yourself shouldn't count, but putting something together with a Linux box running Apache, WebDAV and various other things seems more "building your own" than simply using an existing third party alternative, as the article recommends.
Personally, if you were going to use a third party alternative, I'd go for something like SparkleShare http://sparkleshare.org/
Re:Is using another third party service by jawtheshark · 2011-07-26 23:04 · Score: 1
My experience with WebDAV is that Windows support for it beyond XP is sucky. Heck, even under XP you can't mount it as a drive (that's what users want and expect) if you're using https. There are commercial WebDAV clients and there is an abandonware Novell client, but isn't this stuff that should be supported out of the box? WebDAV is not a solution.
Furthermore, DropBox is more something like an automatic rsync to a remote drive. I can do this on Linux, using rsync (duh) and a ssh-server (preferably using ssh keys). Windows used to have a half-baked sultion called "Briefcases", but it didn't work all that well. I'm not all up to snuff with Windows recently, so it might have become better.
A DIY dropbox alternative thus needs:
- Accessible from everywhere on the Internet, encrypted
- Integration in your desktop environment (regardless platform): It must look and act as a local drive and be usable for non-command-line users.
- Automatic synchronization from the local files (local cache) with the remote "share"
- Ability to share certain files (or at least folders) with other people using the same DIY system.
I'm probably forgetting something. Can you do it with off the shelf open source software? With Windows as a client. As said, I do fine with rsync and a remote sftp machine, but it doesn't really integrate with my desktop environment, I can't really share files unless I move them to my ~/www folder and I use Linux on the desktop.
--
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Re:Is using another third party service by vlm · 2011-07-26 23:06 · Score: 1, Funny

If that is "building your own", I guess I can say proudly that I built my own washing machine, in that I bought a washing machine, put it in place, plumbed it in and switched it on...
Don't laugh so hard at this... 99.9999% of modern americans who sign a contract with a corporate house builder will go around telling people "I'm building a house!". In fact pretty much anything real estate related, if an american signs a contract, they don't do the labor but socially claim for all the labor... "I put a new roof on my house (No, a team of illegal aliens put a roof on your house; you merely paid for it)"
The weird part is my Grandfather actually did build his own house... Sears used to sell kits of everything you need, he bought one, and spent most of a summer swinging a hammer (This was in the 50s so no pneumatic nail guns, and he was a middle manager not a carpenter which is why it took "most of a summer"). The house is still standing, and looked pretty good last time I saw it.
As the second great depression winds on, I've noticed a change in workforce. This attitude is fine if the owner does not socially mix with the workers. But, already, building contractors have changed from illegals when they put my roof on, to meth heads when they put my garage siding on. Very soon as unemployment spirals up, average middle class people might be in construction again, and its going to be socially awkward when someone starts bragging at church "how I put up a fence" and the guy in front of him turns around and says "uh, actually, that was me"

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"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Re:Is using another third party service by simoncpu+was+here · 2011-07-26 23:21 · Score: 2

My experience with WebDAV is that Windows support for it beyond XP is sucky. Heck, even under XP you can't mount it as a drive (that's what users want and expect) if you're using https. There are commercial WebDAV clients and there is an abandonware Novell client, but isn't this stuff that should be supported out of the box? WebDAV is not a solution.
I've just made a Dropbox-like alternative for a client. We used S3 for the storage and exposed it via WebDAV. Yeah, Windows support is sucky; however the trick into making it work is to use Digest Auth (not Basic), and to use a valid certificate (the CN should correctly match).
Re:Is using another third party service by qxcv · 2011-07-26 23:26 · Score: 1

Duplicity is handy if you're just wanting the same rsync experience, but with encryption. If you need a nice Duplicity-like tool with a user friendly GUI, there's also Duplicati.

--
"The most dangerous enemy of a better solution is an existing codebase that is just good enough." -- Eric S. Raymond
Re:Is using another third party service by xaxa · 2011-07-26 23:30 · Score: 2

If that is "building your own", I guess I can say proudly that I built my own washing machine, in that I bought a washing machine, put it in place, plumbed it in and switched it on...
Don't laugh so hard at this... 99.9999% of modern americans who sign a contract with a corporate house builder will go around telling people "I'm building a house!".
That's shows how the choice of language reflects culture.
In Britain I think we'd normally say "I'm having a house built", or "We've had a new fence put up" or "The garage was re-roofed", though the "I built" way is not uncommon. I think it depends on what follows -- "We've had a new fence put up" will probably continue with a complaint about how expensive/slow/unsatisfactory the process or result was :-)
Re:Is using another third party service by somersault · 2011-07-26 23:32 · Score: 3, Insightful

Well, that is kind of how things work. The person in charge takes the credit. I wouldn't use the turn of phrase myself, but I can imagine some people doing it. Like the general of an army boasting about how he defeated some opposing army, when in fact it was his men that did all the hard work.

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which is totally what she said
Re:Is using another third party service by jawtheshark · 2011-07-26 23:33 · Score: 1

My WebDAV experience is from work. We have a valid wildcard certificate, so that should be covered. I'll have to look into using Digest Auth, as I think (but might recall incorrectly) that we use Basic. Thanks for the tip.

--
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Re:Is using another third party service by jawtheshark · 2011-07-26 23:36 · Score: 2

Just checked, it's Digest Auth. Damn... Our main troubles lie within the fact that PDFs work badly on it (Load in a browser in the Adobe Plugin), sometimes office files corrupt on it and in rare cases files just vanish. It's always office files that vanish. My users usually want my head at that point and I have to go and fetch from backup.

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Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Re:Is using another third party service by GillyGuthrie · 2011-07-27 00:16 · Score: 2

When somebody says they "built a house," do you ask them if they grew the trees that supplied the lumber? I can smell your superiority complex from here.
Re:Is using another third party service by GameboyRMH · 2011-07-27 00:46 · Score: 1

AND, didn't we have a much better article (in Ask Slashdot form) on this topic recently anyways?

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"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Re:Is using another third party service by MightyYar · 2011-07-27 00:51 · Score: 1

when in fact it was his men that did all the hard work.
The men! Sheesh! It's us munitions workers that deserve all the credit! :)
I think if someone is sponsoring something (like a $20,000 roof), they can be excused for the ambiguity of their language :)

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W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Re:Is using another third party service by w1cked5mile · 2011-07-27 00:59 · Score: 1

"my Grandfather actually did build his own house... Sears used to sell kits of everything you need, he bought one"

What? He put together a kit? How is that DIY? If that's the case I'm a furniture builder when I buy something from IKEA.

When I was a lad building your own house meant fighting the indigenous people and moving them off the land, clearing a plot and using the trees to mill my own lumber, forging nails to put it together, making my own bricks for the foundation and making my own glass for the windows and I liked it. Whipper-snappers building kit houses, Harumph!

This is a stupid argument and boils down to self righteous semantics. Get over it. If I buy or find open source components, put them together and configure them myself to facilitate a working system I've "built" the system. If I buy the whole system ready out of the box, I've financed building the system. The Vanderbilt's built Biltmore. Bill built Microsoft and Steve built Apple. They had help along the way but all of them are credited and synonymous with their creations. How far down the raw materials and tools line do you need to go before it's DIY?
Re:Is using another third party service by Stewie241 · 2011-07-27 01:09 · Score: 1

You used pre-grown trees? When I was a lad it took years to build a house because we had to grow our own trees.
Re:Is using another third party service by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 01:16 · Score: 0

iFolder - does the same thing...
Re:Is using another third party service by X3J11 · 2011-07-27 01:19 · Score: 1

In Britain I think we'd normally say "I'm having a house built", or "We've had a new fence put up" or "The garage was re-roofed", though the "I built" way is not uncommon. I think it depends on what follows -- "We've had a new fence put up" will probably continue with a complaint about how expensive/slow/unsatisfactory the process or result was :-)
Same here in Canada, although we did re-roof our house. Well, my father did. The heights where a bit too much for me. Going up was easy enough, but once I got up there I realized that should my fat ass slip or lose my balance, it was a long way down.
"Gravity is a harsh mistress." -- The Tick.
Re:Is using another third party service by PopeRatzo · 2011-07-27 01:26 · Score: 1

99.9999% of modern americans who sign a contract with a corporate house builder will go around telling people "I'm building a house!"
I don't think the meager number of people who are building new houses in the current economy satisfies the level of precision in your figure.
I'm pretty sure that "8 out of the 9" would be closer to the truth.

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You are welcome on my lawn.
Re:Is using another third party service by Lumpy · 2011-07-27 01:27 · Score: 1, Informative

This is because 99.997% of americans are inept at the tasks to actually do any home building. Go shopping for a older home and look at the nightmares that the DIY network and Places like Home Depot have created. Basements finished by someone that watches too much DIY network or HGTV are pretty on the surface but half assed underneath to the point that I'll pass on any home that I can tell the howmowners tried to be "handy" because I dont want to pay to have it all ripped out and done right.
And yes I know what I am looking at, Grew up as a son of a contractor, I spent EVERY summer until my 22nd birthday building houses, pulling wire, and plumbing homes. I can tell when something is right and when something is a frigging nightmare behind some nice paneling...

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Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Re:Is using another third party service by asdf7890 · 2011-07-27 01:27 · Score: 1

I can confirm that as another brit. Though there are some people woudl would use the "I built..." form. If I might be a bit classist for a moment, more often than not is it the "upper middles" trying to impress at dinner parties (the party being held at the home of someone who "put in an Aga" which means "paid for and had labourers put in an Aga") and other social gatherings where one-up-man-ship is standard practice. Caveat: it is not all people of that standing, just a certain (vocal and irritating) minority, and there are people in lower financial/social categories guilty of it too.
Re:Is using another third party service by Lumpy · 2011-07-27 01:29 · Score: 1

Nails? Amateur...
WE used pegs and interlocking.. Only wanna-be's used nails.

--
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Re:Is using another third party service by asdf7890 · 2011-07-27 01:34 · Score: 1

In the case of the above mentioned grandfather I would use the wording "put up a house" which is as unambiguous a phrase as I can think of. It is certainly the wording I would use when I "put up some shelves" I bought from Ikea or "put together" a chest of drawers from the same source.

Your example is far more than than just putting something together, so building (which to me is a word that implies more then "putting up/together") is the least I'd use to describe it. You could probably say you "researched, designed, and built" it and more besides.

What many people mean when they say the did something these days though, is that they commissioned the work and watched someone else do it.
Re:Is using another third party service by poetmatt · 2011-07-27 01:38 · Score: 1

The comedy was that instead of building your own solution the site was an advertisement for windows skydrive and goodsync, paid solutions -which are not solutions, then. To also act like you can trust microsoft over dropbox is also completely hilarious. You really think Microsoft of all companies should be trusted with *any* form of data? I bet their privacy policy on skydrive, if it's still as I recall it, is basically nonexistent.
Re:Is using another third party service by LowG1974 · 2011-07-27 01:45 · Score: 1

When I was a lad building your own house meant fighting the indigenous people and moving them off the land...
I'm not saying there's no one alive who's that old, necessarily, but if there is, you can bet they don't know how to "write on the inter-webs." ;)

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there is no spoon. or fork. there is a butter knife, and it's dull.
Re:Is using another third party service by ArhcAngel · 2011-07-27 01:53 · Score: 1

Unless you live in a mansion I would like to come re-roof your house.

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"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Re:Is using another third party service by Kashgarinn · 2011-07-27 02:20 · Score: 1

If they beat them following his plans.. then that's HIS plan defeating the opposing army, so it's HIS victory isn't it?
Re:Is using another third party service by MightyYar · 2011-07-27 02:29 · Score: 1

You might not - it needs the old crap all scraped off, new gutters, and a bunch of rot replaced. :) But yeah, that's about $5000 high for my roof.

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W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Re:Is using another third party service by npsimons · 2011-07-27 02:31 · Score: 1

I keep telling people, it's not that hard to run your own server these days (or maybe I'm just some super-admin; doubtful). The only daunting part is the variance in options: VPS, colocation, or host at home? Hell, that last is entirely viable since most people reading this already have a high speed connection at home and dynamic DNS solves the mapping problem. If your ISP blocks certain ports, just pick another above 1024; they can't block them all.

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Nathan's blog
Re:Is using another third party service by Slashdot+Parent · 2011-07-27 03:53 · Score: 1

Duplicity is handy if you're just wanting the same rsync experience, but with encryption.
If you need a nice Duplicity-like tool with a user friendly GUI, there's also Duplicati.
Too bad I don't have any mod points right now. Duplicati is awesome. You set it up, and it just runs on schedule. It doesn't overconsume resources, either.
Highly recommended for Windows if you only want to backup certain directories. (If you want to do a full system backup, you should just use Windows's backup tool).
Duplicity seems great too, and I'll definitely check it out if I ever run a Linux node outside of Amazon EC2.

--
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
Re:Is using another third party service by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 03:58 · Score: 0

Here is something I agree 100% on. Houses are a lot like cars, where older ones could be done by 1-2 people. However, with building codes, insulation, electrical issues and so on, one person is hard pressed to do this unless they have some experience.
Take PVC pipe for instance. Unless it is completely glued all the way around (where it gets painted, the pipe turned a bit to spread the adhesive), it will leak. Or wiring, where if someone uses the wrong gauge, it may lead to a nice conflagration. Water pipes need to be out of the right metal, or else they might put noxious things in what you drink.
All this is knowledge Joe Sixpack tends to not have. The problem is that a lot of contractors/subcontractors may not have it either.
Re:Is using another third party service by sgt+scrub · 2011-07-27 04:15 · Score: 1

Wait. You switched it on? You? Somebody is wii hii pped... :p

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Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
Re:Is using another third party service by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 04:50 · Score: 0

The article uses MS services. You cannot connect Win 7 to a standard WebDav Apache server. The functionality was removed and added to Office 2010 to force SharePoint purchases.
Re:Is using another third party service by kenh · 2011-07-27 04:54 · Score: 1

MS Sky Drive is free for the first 25 Gigs, IIRC - Dropbox is free for the first 2 Gigs. Neither is free beyond those limits, so the comparison/solution is valid.

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Ken
Re:Is using another third party service by nigelo · 2011-07-27 05:00 · Score: 1

The best we could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.

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*Still* negative function...
Re:Is using another third party service by CannonballHead · 2011-07-27 05:15 · Score: 1

We also use the passive voice. "We had the wall replaced" or "we had a leak and had it fixed." Just like I say that I "took my car in for an oil change" not "I changed the oil." Although, sometimes "Yes, I changed the oil last week" slips out, but we all understand that I did NOT change the oil and would not know how to.
Re:Is using another third party service by CannonballHead · 2011-07-27 05:21 · Score: 1

My house had a variety of DIY stuff - as well as contracted stuff - done to it. It was originally built as a cabin I guess, in the 50s. Most of the funny things kinda make sense, and some of them are cosmetic issues - e.g., the door frame .... gah, I'm totally blanking out on the name, but it's like "baseboard" for the door frame :P - is on crooked. Or, instead of pulling up the linoleum from the 70s, they put particle board + carpet on top and shaved off the bottoms of the doors.
The most baffling one so far, though, is a plumbing one. There's a hose bib attached to the hot water (and only the hot water) line under the sink. Someone thought perhaps it was for a portable dishwasher, but that would require hot and cold, and there's on extra valves on the cold, just one for the sink faucet (well, now another one; put in an under-sink RO system so had to get a dual 3/8" connection in).
Re:Is using another third party service by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 05:21 · Score: 0

... I spent EVERY summer until my 22nd birthday building houses, pulling wire, and plumbing homes....
You spent 5 or 6 summers before first grade pulling wire & plumbing? No wonder you know what to watch for!
Re:Is using another third party service by somersault · 2011-07-27 06:19 · Score: 1

And since an army needs a lot of resources, then whoever is providing those resources also has brought about the defeat of the enemy. It's everyone's victory.

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which is totally what she said
Re:Is using another third party service by Belial6 · 2011-07-27 07:06 · Score: 1

If you really want to BUILD the house instead of just assembling it, first you must create a universe. Anything less and you are just assembling a kit.

More seriously, you are correct. It comes down to what shade of gray you want to draw your line across.
Re:Is using another third party service by Belial6 · 2011-07-27 07:27 · Score: 1

The likely reason for the hose bib attached to the hot water and only the hot water is because the hot water line needed a repair. Whoever did the repair put the hose bib on it for future proofing, but did not see the need to immediately tear into the functioning cold water.

I did an even more 'strange' plumbing system myself several years ago. I was replacing all of the rotting steel water pipes in my home with copper. the water lines T'ed off under one of the bedrooms on it's way to the kitchen and bathroom. On the leg that ran to the kitchen, I put in a huge S that ran from under the bedroom to under the kitchen, back under the bedroom and connected to the old steel pipe (via a dielectric union) under the bedroom. If I had sold my house at that point, the next person to look at it would have though I was insane.

In reality, there was a very good reason for running the pipes back and forth. The house did not have enough clearance for anyone but the absolute smallest humans to get underneath it. With there being a noticeable lack of qualified 45 pound 6 year old plumbers, the plumbing work needed to be done by ripping up the flooring on the inside of the house. Since the kitchen remodel was not going to be started until the bedroom was done, I put in a large S. When I moved on to remodeling the kitchen, I was able to cut off the S at the first loop, and connect up all of the kitchen plumbing without any strange loops. Not only did I not have to tear up the brand new bedroom floors to connect up the kitchen plumbing, but I was also able to put fewer holes in the the kitchen sub-flooring, since the new copper from the bedroom remodel extended 10 feet into the kitchen.

There was a good reason for the crazy S. The crazy S saved me a decent amount of money, and a LOT of trouble. But, as I said, if for some reason, I had not been able to get to the kitchen remodel before selling the house, someone later down the line would have thought it was incompetence.

That being said, there is a lot bad construction being done by homeowners and professionals alike.
Re:Is using another third party service by Belial6 · 2011-07-27 07:46 · Score: 1

I disagree. The only thing that a person of average intelligence might have a problem with is dealing with a building department that has a bad attitude towards homeowners. Your example of PVC pipe is a perfectly good one. PVC is trivial to work with, and can be done to high quality standards with only the smallest bit of care. Your example of electrical wiring is another good example. Residential electrical wiring is incredibly simple. There just are not that many factors involved in it, and pretty much all scenarios have good simple instructions available on how to do it. There are only a few gauges of ware that are used in a residential home, and each of their uses are well defined. You are more likely to kill yourself or others cooking in the kitchen than you are by doing your own electrical work.

I would say the problem with contractors is more one of them not caring than them not having the knowledge. I had an electrical company rewire one room in a renovation I was doing, since I needed the breaker box upgraded, and they would have better access to PG&E for shutting off the power at the pole. I figured that since they were there already, I would have them wire the room that was gutted at the same time. My instructions were that I wanted all of the old electrical removed, and new wiring put in to the locations in my plans. Not only did they leave old wiring in a couple of places because they though no one would notice, but when the inspectors came, the work didn't pass. I had to go in and fix their mistakes. Yes, I could have had them come back out, but that would have been more effort than to just fix the problem myself. I ended up doing all of the rest of the wiring myself, and the only issue the inspectors had was when they saw that I used a separate GFCI outlet on each kitchen plug instead of only putting one at the beginning of the leg. A simple explanation that the extra cost was worth not making someone else down the line try to figure out why an outlet doesn't work was worth it to me, and everything was fine. The inspector was just used to people taking the cheap low quality route.
Re:Is using another third party service by perotbot · 2011-07-27 09:04 · Score: 1

built my own using iFolder from Novell and then open sourced, works great, and yes I did it myself.... http://ifolder.com/

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~corporate tool, but employed~
Re:Is using another third party service by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 09:24 · Score: 0

Wow, you guys actually believe an assertion from a blowhard that says that 99.999% of Americans do anything. I am sure dude only knows .00001% of Americans period. This person is an example of an American that has too much huberis to believe he knows everything.
Re:Is using another third party service by Kittenman · 2011-07-27 09:56 · Score: 1

If you really want to BUILD the house instead of just assembling it, first you must create a universe. Anything less and you are just assembling a kit. .
If I remember Carl right, it was an apple pie and not a house. But, your point still stands. And you can't live in an apple pie. Nor can you eat a house.

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"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
Re:Is using another third party service by drakken33 · 2011-07-27 10:45 · Score: 1

I've been thinking about doing this for ages. I have a machine that I run as a server. It runs SSH already. I have no problem with it not being automatic and using a SFTP client to upload and download files. I do have some reservations though.
1. I have to open the machine up to the Internet. Running the server completely behind my router means I can be a bit lax in some aspect of security but I wouldn't want to allow access to it from outside without rebuilding it to allow for that. To allow me to do it how I'd like it set up would require me spending some real money.
2. I don't have any redundancy my server. I have backups but if it dies while I'm away (which is a lot) then I lose the machine. It would cost some real money to add the needed redundancy (or better yet, replace it with a better machine that's more fit for the purpose).
3. My Internet connection is a typical home connection i.e. very asynchronous. I can't remember what my upload speed is but it's a hell of a lot less than my download speed, even when I'm away, and this speed will be my download speed when I'm away. I could improve the situation but at the cost of some real money.
Dropbox is shit from a privacy and security standpoint but I've always assumed it is and treated it as such. I'd be quite happy to put the files in my dropbox on a public web server. It's just useful to have certain files always available and automatically synced. I have 3GB of space for free on Dropbox and it's plenty for my needs. When I weigh up the DIY costs against Dropbox it's unfortunate but Dropbox wins for my use case.

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Andy.
Re:Is using another third party service by Unequivocal · 2011-07-27 17:33 · Score: 1

Trees grow themselves!
Re:Is using another third party service by simoncpu+was+here · 2011-07-27 21:44 · Score: 1

You might want to check your Web/WebDAV server. Initially, I experienced problems when I used lighttpd (locking issues, can't move/rename), but everything went fine when I switched to Apache. Apache may not be as fast as lighttpd or nginx, but its WebDAV implementation is more or less complete.
Re:Is using another third party service by RockDoctor · 2011-07-27 21:54 · Score: 1

average middle class people might be in construction again, and its going to be socially awkward when someone starts bragging at church "how I put up a fence" and the guy in front of him turns around and says "uh, actually, that was me"
Your church lets carpenters and the like of rude mechanicals in through the doors? Time to get a new church!
Next thing you know, they'll be allowing philanderers, thieves and tax dodgers stay in the church because it's socially convenient, and they're rich and immoral.

--
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Re:Is using another third party service by jawtheshark · 2011-07-27 22:28 · Score: 1

Will do, but it really looks like that it's the clients. People using Linux or Mac OS X do not have the problem at all.

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Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Re:Is using another third party service by poetmatt · 2011-07-28 09:19 · Score: 1

and the mac one isn't free, but way to skip that. Again, who trusts microsoft?

My solution by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 22:43 · Score: 0

I use DriveShare from a company called Webmaster. Your files are kept on your machine, it has windows and Linux versions, an iPhone client (for whatever that's worth). It has some fancy dyndns setup built-in which is nice so i dont need to worry about cox changing my IP every few days and it works behind NAT. Overall I'm pretty happy with it. YMMV.

The site is at http://www.webmaster.com/

Re:My solution by avxo · 2011-07-27 12:16 · Score: 1

DriveShare is pretty nice. It's really kind of addictive to be able to access all my files from my iPhone and from any machine and to not worry about having to give Dropbox (or any Dropbox) access to it.

That's not DIY! by Robert+Zenz · 2011-07-26 22:46 · Score: 4, Insightful

DIY stand for Do-It-Yourself...installing other third-party-applications which are doing the same does not count as DIY!

Re:That's not DIY! by dr.newton · 2011-07-27 00:30 · Score: 3, Funny

I know, right?
He probably didn't even write the kernel his machines are running, or the compiler he used to build it (if he even compiled it himself)!

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Just another proletarian malcontent.
Re:That's not DIY! by GreatBunzinni · 2011-07-27 01:59 · Score: 1

In this context, installing a third-party application can be a DIY approach. After all, dropbox is nothing more than a set of servers somewhere that you can access by downloading a specialized client. If you happen to set up your very own personal server by installing software written by a third-party so that it provides essentially the same services as dropbox then that is in fact something you did it on your own. That is, instead of relying on a third-party service you built your server yourself. Hence, the DIY.
To put it in another way, if you write software by making calls to an API then your software will fit the DIY criteria. The same goes with building some electronics by using components made by a third-party. You don't need to build everything from scratch to be considered DIY.

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Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
Re:That's not DIY! by npsimons · 2011-07-27 02:35 · Score: 1

DIY stand for Do-It-Yourself...installing other third-party-applications which are doing the same does not count as DIY!
And I suppose you write your own compiler and assembler, then run it on silicon you fused yourself. And where'd you get those electrons from, hmmm? The *true* DIY'er would build his own bicycle generator and *pedal* power his server everyday! All while only eating organic vegetables he grew himself, using his own excrement as fertilizer!

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Nathan's blog
Re:That's not DIY! by Vyse+of+Arcadia · 2011-07-27 04:21 · Score: 1

This is why I prefer the phrase "roll your own."
Re:That's not DIY! by dominious · 2011-07-27 06:11 · Score: 1

And I suppose you write your own compiler and assembler, then run it on silicon you fused yourself. And where'd you get those electrons from, hmmm? The *true* DIY'er would build his own bicycle generator and *pedal* power his server everyday! All while only eating organic vegetables he grew himself, using his own excrement as fertilizer!
I'm sorry but the *true* DIY'er would also have to build his own electrons from scratch!
Re:That's not DIY! by Bucky24 · 2011-07-27 06:26 · Score: 1

But where would one get the scratch?

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All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents

I thought we cleared these up already by F69631 · 2011-07-26 22:48 · Score: 2

DropBox includes sharing functionality (you can choose that some of the files are accessible by anyone through browser) and DropBox doesn't want you to sue them for that so they need you to give them a permission to share your files. It's as simple as that and is the same reason why Google+ asks similar rights to all the content you upload. As for the dodgy security... When a program is configured to login automatically, it stores the login credentials somewhere that a hostile person with access to your files can probably copy. I doubt you get around this with DIY version...

Even ignoring those (=assuming that dropbox isn't to be trusted with your data and that their security sucks)...What problem do you want to solve that you can't solve with DropBox + encryption?

Re:I thought we cleared these up already by shish · 2011-07-26 23:14 · Score: 2

I thought the problems were that dropbox employees have access to your files, they just aren't allowed to read them (they originally said they didn't have access to the files); and that for a few hours it was possible to log into any account without needing a password; you don't seem to have addressed either of those...

--
I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
Re:I thought we cleared these up already by khakipuce · 2011-07-27 00:06 · Score: 0

Nice try at the sig, although I think you have prepended an extra "To be" to the quote.

--
Art is the mathematics of emotion
Re:I thought we cleared these up already by Drinking+Bleach · 2011-07-27 06:36 · Score: 1

He did address them, see the part "Dropbox + encryption". I personally employ GPG on all sensitive data that goes into Dropbox, and it works fine.
Re:I thought we cleared these up already by shish · 2011-07-29 02:59 · Score: 1

It works fine if you are willing and knowledgeable enough to set up these extra steps, and dilligent enough to always go through them, yes. That doesn't help the 99% of users who signed up for dropbox for its simplicity though :P

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I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment

Spideroak? by jimwormold · 2011-07-26 22:49 · Score: 2

Why not use Spideroak instead of dropbox. Spideroak have a zero-knowledge privacy policy. I'd say it's not quite as polished a product as dropbox, but everything is encrypted before it leaves my computer (come on spideroak open source your client so we can check!) and stored encrypted, so NO ONE can read it. I have access to files from android to. (I am not affiliated with Spideroak in away way.) Join via this link and we both get an extra 1GB (I believe you start with 2GB free): https://spideroak.com/signup/referral/dd998cb68d2fba5eb916a000411c2263/

Re:Spideroak? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 23:58 · Score: 0

Plugging my own referral link: https://spideroak.com/download/referral/51147d38546a6f5732f981e052082a76
If you use the Promo code WORLDBACKUPDAY you start with even more free space (6 or 7 GB)
Re:Spideroak? by gbjbaanb · 2011-07-27 00:22 · Score: 1

Its hardly the first one to do this, Mozy does the same - it allows you to use your own keys to encrypt all your data that's transferred. (you can use Mozy's keys instead which provides for more convenience, but hey - your choice)
It also has a nice interface to download your files - integrated as an Explorer shell extension (if you're on Windows). It doesn't provide a 'ftp' facility though.. but I think I'll suggest that to them .. instead its more a backup tool - just like Spideroak.
note: that link is an affiliate, they'll give me more backup space if you use it, if you don't want to, google 'Mozy' instead.
Re:Spideroak? by spokenoise · 2011-07-27 00:29 · Score: 1

still only gets you the standard 2 gig as the parent
Re:Spideroak? by jimwormold · 2011-07-27 00:44 · Score: 1

"instead its more a backup tool - just like Spideroak."
Well spideroak allows syncing of different folders on different machines, so in that respect it's more like dropbox on steroids than mozy.
Additionally Spideroak has standard backup features that numerous providers give (including mozy) but gives you up to 50GB storage free.
Re:Spideroak? by jimwormold · 2011-07-27 00:50 · Score: 1

From https://spideroak.com/referral/

When you refer a friend to SpiderOak then you and your friend get an additional free GB of space.
Is this not correct then?
Re:Spideroak? by Cro+Magnon · 2011-07-27 01:21 · Score: 1

Last time I tried SpiderOak, its sync wasn't working right. Unless they've fixed it, SO isn't an option.

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Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Re:Spideroak? by jimwormold · 2011-07-27 01:27 · Score: 1

YMMV I guess. What was wrong with it?
It's always worked a charm for me. I wouldn't post a referral link to a broken product! Well not purposefully anyway.
Re:Spideroak? by Cro+Magnon · 2011-07-27 01:37 · Score: 1

On several occasions, I changed a file on one machine, and it didn't get changed on the other. Someone on another website I'm on had the same complaint, and I saw an undefined complaint about syncing (it was too vague to tell if it was the same problem, but it sounded like it could have been) on the SO forums.

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Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Re:Spideroak? by godefroi · 2011-07-27 02:30 · Score: 1

Mozy is the most completely shit service+software combination I've ever had the displeasure to work with.
Go JungleDisk, you'll never go back.

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Karma: Poor (Mostly affected by lame karma-joke sigs)
Re:Spideroak? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 06:04 · Score: 0

really? I used this last week and this shows up in my account history:
Subscription History
Date Amount Plan Success Notes
2011-07-23 04:53 - 5 Gigs: Free for World Backup Day - account creation
Re:Spideroak? by Unequivocal · 2011-07-27 17:36 · Score: 1

It works fine for me about 99.5% of the time. The 1/2% with SO can be a PITA - generally can be solved by uninstalling SO on one of the machines, removing lingering files and reinstalling. I haven't had any file loss problems, but periodically the sync does bunge up. But it's usually fairly obvious it's failed and I uninstall and can get it working.
Not perfect but find me an alternative that does sync better and has mac, window, linux, iphone and android clients and I'll switch!

2 simple and one complex solutions by roman_mir · 2011-07-26 22:50 · Score: 2

First simple solution: host your own secure ftp.

Second simple solution: call Dropbox and tell them you'll pay to use their service if they sign your contract. Write your contract and mail it to them.

Complex solution: build your own software to do what they do. I don't see how that's going to be cheaper or easier than the first 2 simple solutions.

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You can't handle the truth.

Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 23:24 · Score: 0

Exactly what I came here to say:
FTP, for godâ(TM)s sake!! Duh!
Or even better: SFTP.
And Apache can automatically create directory listings, with proper authentication, authorization, path restrictions, bells and whistles. You can even change the (X)HTML to have your own personal style.
Just point apache to your FTP upload directory, and you're done.
Takes 10 minutes, costs perhaps $5 a month (cheap web hosting only offer), and if you do it via DynDNS, pointing to your own home server (which you, as a geek, should have anyway), like I do, it doesn't cost you a cent, and you don't even have to upload anything. (They do the downloading from you.)
I bet there are even pre-made solutions, taking the time down to 1 minute for downloading, 1 for unpacking and 1 for starting and trying out.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by zAPPzAPP · 2011-07-27 00:00 · Score: 1

The crucial part about dropbox is not the file sharing. Any ftp can give you that. Most NAS come with one, or you can easily setup one on a linux box if you're willing to leave it switched on 24/7.
No, the thing that dropbox has and why I'd use it, is automatic file synchronization over all local devices, even when files are accessed from mutiple users at the same time.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by roman_mir · 2011-07-27 00:01 · Score: 1

Well, you can run your own version control as well.

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You can't handle the truth.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by daid303 · 2011-07-27 00:39 · Score: 1

Which is harder to use. The "automatic" is important! Forgot to commit? Manual updates? Notifications about updates? no issue with dropbox.
I'm using dropbox a lot these days. I use 3 computers (work, home desktop, laptop), it's easy to have files accessible by al 3 by just putting the files in the right folder, no thinking beyond a single copy. I also have 3 shared folders which are used by other people, one of them even contains code, which is synced with a linux server, which runs the php code in the dropbox (rapid development) you can do all these things with other tools, but nothing matches the ease of use from dropbox.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by roman_mir · 2011-07-27 00:54 · Score: 1

That's your choice, I prefer rsync personally and cvs for development that I do for myself.

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You can't handle the truth.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 01:05 · Score: 0

I have to come up with something that moves files from computer A to computer B for processing, where computer A is run by a highschool dropout who can't be relied on to push a button.
Inevitably I'm going to have to write my own windows service that starts all by itself, watches the folder for changes, uploads the file, checks the hash on the other end, then deletes it from the local file once it's confirmed.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by roman_mir · 2011-07-27 01:39 · Score: 1

Windows? Don't they have something like 'at' command? You probably can just use that and put a perl script to check the files.

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You can't handle the truth.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by BobNET · 2011-07-27 02:31 · Score: 1

Or even better: SFTP.
I use sshfs myserver:remotedir localdir
It requires the network connection to remain up. One could probably use rsync instead if they know the connection will go down.
It also only works under Linux (and maybe other places where FUSE has been ported like FreeBSD), but I'm okay with that.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 03:02 · Score: 0

I never understood the need for dropbox. My home desktop machine is always on, and runs sshd. Same for my work machine. So wherever I am with a laptop, I can not only transfer files to/from those two, but also log into them and access anything on those local networks.
Sure, there is no automatic synchronization, but what would I need that for? I can get any file I want anytime anyway. And put them back too.
All of this encrypted, so no worries about stuff leaking out either.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 05:17 · Score: 0

That's your choice, I prefer rsync personally and cvs for development that I do for myself.
We aren't ALL stuck in the 1700s. Let the rest of us do more efficient work, grampa.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by lewiscr · 2011-07-27 12:38 · Score: 1

Yes, cygwin + at/cron. If you're not a windows admin, it takes a little bit of work to get crond running as a windows service. Once the service is running, the rest is unix. I have a simple rsync cron running on windows, pulling offsite backup.
In the grandparent's case, a slightly complex script that does rsync and some remote md5 commands should solve the problem. If you need bi-directional transfer, I've scripted unison the same way.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by jon3k · 2011-07-28 07:24 · Score: 1

the only problem I have with this is usability. especially from my smartphone or tablet.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-28 18:38 · Score: 0

We aren't ALL stuck in the 1700s. Let the rest of us do more efficient work, grampa.
Fun fact: Gutenberg recorded the original schematics for the printing press in CVS.
Re:2 simple and one complex solutions by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-28 19:12 · Score: 0

Another fun fact: When Jesus of Nazareth first started on the lecture circuit, he put his lecture notes in RCS. That worked well until he died -- at which point, each apostle copied the RCS tree and started making their own edits. But, predictably, keeping separate RCS setups synchronized was a nightmare, and so the notes were forked like crazy. It wasn't until three hundred years later that Emporer Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea, where he designed and implemented CVS. That's why the official pserver for Christianity's major texts is hosted in Rome.

unison by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 22:51 · Score: 0

if you have a linux shell with enough space for your files, you could use unison. its rsync-like, and can operate between two machines, or with a server (master) and multiple clients. unison is available for windows, mac and linux, but its probably simpler if the machine that's always on is running linux.

Re:Unison by pseudonomous · 2011-07-27 06:56 · Score: 1

Indeed, if you choose not to use dropbox, unison is almost certainly the proper choice for the job.
Re:unison by hawkinspeter · 2011-07-27 08:21 · Score: 1

I used to use unison, but it can be a bit fussy about syncing between different versions. I use rsync now instead and make sure that I know which direction I'm syncing.

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You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe

Lame article. DNRTFA. by subreality · 2011-07-26 22:54 · Score: 2

#1, "building your own" misses the entire point of using a cloud service. The whole idea is that I don't have to build my own infrastructure - I just sign up and use theirs.

#2, changing to another provider or buying a piece of sync software is not building your own.

Wuala by pfiver · 2011-07-26 23:00 · Score: 2

Although offtopic, because not DIY, the answer, for now, for me, is "Wuala". http://www.wuala.com/ High quality java software, all content fully encrypted, sophisticated neatly designed access rights management (cryptree). It's not open source, but otherwise really close to perfect. I am in no way associated with the company (originally "Caleido", now merged into "Lacie").

Re:Wuala by Lieutenant_Dan · 2011-07-26 23:17 · Score: 1

Thanks for sharing. It looks like same folks (or group) that developed Cryptree are also running Wuala.
I'll try it out. Servers are based out of EU and Switzerland; so no PATRIOT Act to worry about.

--
Wearing pants should always be optional.
Re:Wuala by moronoxyd · 2011-07-27 00:04 · Score: 2

Same here.
I have been using Dropbox for quite some time and loved it's ease of use. But security concerns and the rather steep price of additional space made me look for alternatives. Enter Wuala.
Support for Linux, Windows and Android? Check (+ others like Mac)
Encrypted on client, Passphrase nevers leaves the Client? Check (as long as we trust the makers, of course)
Mobile access via web browser? Check (Java, so not available everywhere, but almost)
Inexpensive options to add additional space? Check (I currently can use 50 GB withouth paying a cent, by sharing some of my hard drive space to store encrypted data of other users, only viable if you have a rather decent broadband connection without data caps)
I do agree: Wuala is not perfect, but close enough.
Re:Wuala by aarongadberry · 2011-07-27 01:54 · Score: 2

If you like(d) dropbox then go to Wuala.
http://www.gadberry.com/aaron/2011/04/29/wuala-for-dropbox-users/
It is so much more, and so much better.
"The design of a worldwide, fully transparent distributed file system for simultaneous use by millions of mobile and frequently disconnected users is left as an exercise for the reader."
- Andrew S. Tanenbaum (Distributed Operating Systems)
Re:Wuala by robot_love · 2011-07-27 03:49 · Score: 1

I was interested in Wuala as well, but closer inspection made me leave it for SpiderOak.
Wuala have stated that if two people have the same file encrypted, they will deduplicate them. This means that the encryption is not unique to each user. There are several attacks possible based on this knowledge. More information in the Wuala user forums.

--
.there is enough of everything for everyone.

Try iFolder by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 23:01 · Score: 0

When I had security concerns about dropbox in the past, I was very pleased to find iFolder (http://www.ifolder.com). It runs on mono and authenticates with our company LDAP; it also has clients for linux/macosx/windows.

Give it a try, it's a bitch to install but when it's set up it just works

rsync by AVryhof · 2011-07-26 23:01 · Score: 2

rsync + ssh + cron + unlimited web hosting (that allows ssh access)

or

rsync + ssh + cron + a tunnel between the computers you want to sync

You might also want a manual update script to update between cron syncs.... or better yet.... write your manual update script and have cron call it for easy maintenance.

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Make America grate again!

Re:rsync by AVryhof · 2011-07-26 23:06 · Score: 2

Alternatively ... http://fak3r.com/geek/howto-build-your-own-open-source-dropbox-clone/

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Make America grate again!
Re:rsync by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 23:55 · Score: 1

rsync + ssh + cron + unlimited web hosting (that allows ssh access)
I can forsee a security issue with this one...
Re:rsync by 2fuf · 2011-07-27 00:32 · Score: 1

vsftpd
Re:rsync by Zebedeu · 2011-07-27 01:42 · Score: 1

I'm currently doing this, but I thought it only worked one-way (I'm using it to mirror my hard drive as a poor man's backup solution).
Dropbox syncs in both directions, which is much more interesting.
Re:rsync by hoggoth · 2011-07-27 03:07 · Score: 1

rsync only syncs in one direction. A two way rsync doesn't handle every case properly, such as deleted files (should it be deleted on the other side, or is it a new file that should be copy back?)
For proper two way sync you need something like Unison. Unison + ssh + cron is a perfect two way sync. The only thing Dropbox has over Unison + ssh + cron is dropbox monitors file changes in real time and so picks up changes right away and efficiently. Anything that runs every 5 minutes and scans through files is less efficient.

--
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
Re:rsync by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 03:13 · Score: 0

No, rsync can be made to work in both directions. You just have to make a config file for it and run rsync --daemon on the machine you want to be your server.
Re:rsync by Zebedeu · 2011-07-27 03:53 · Score: 1

But doesn't the sync only work in one direction at a time?
Say I have two computers and a server.
Can I edit a file on PC1, see those changes pushed to PC2, edit the file there, and see the changes from PC2 pushed back into PC1?
Because Dropbox does that, seamlessly, and I'm not even contemplating the harder case of conflict resolution (don't know how Dropbox handles that, either).
Re:rsync by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 04:12 · Score: 0

Yeah. When you run rsync in daemon mode, you create a config file that's formed the same way as sambas' is. Thus, you can make it read only or allow writes, allowing it to sync in both directions. Also, it handles conflicts by looking at which version of the file was most recently modified and employs some sort of diff system to avoid having to resend the entire file.
Re:rsync by jon3k · 2011-07-28 07:27 · Score: 1

the problem with this is i cant access dropbox from my smartphone or tablet

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by jellomizer · 2011-07-26 23:05 · Score: 1

I would agree. This is a "I HATE CLOUD SOLUTIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE CLOUD SOLUTIONS" type of response. You can't judge Cloud solutions as one evil entitiy but as each one individually. There are good ones, there are bad ones, they are ones where you can work with a predefined contract of rules to follow, and they are ones you just agree to their rules. Cloud is the same as SaaS with is the same as Hosted Software, which is quite similar to Time Sharing. The Cloud name caught on, SaaS didn't, and Hosted Software just sounded too old.

I was hoping for some cool non-centralized server alternative coded with at least some neat scripts... No that article was lame.

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If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.

Re:First post! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 23:05 · Score: 0

Good job bro!

Open-Source-Alternative-To-Dropbox by ei4anb · 2011-07-26 23:11 · Score: 4, Informative

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/06/16/1618206/Open-Source-Alternative-To-Dropbox

Re:Open-Source-Alternative-To-Dropbox by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 03:13 · Score: 0

iFolder is open source and works the same way, but you host your own server. You can do shared ifolders as well.
http://www.kablink.org/ifolder

goodsync.com by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-26 23:12 · Score: 0

goodsync.com

thats where its at hombre.

Their software is only whats responsible for SYNCING your files. You get to specify your own sotrage solutions. Amazons3, webdav, sftp etc...

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by outsider007 · 2011-07-26 23:15 · Score: 1

So encrypt your stuff and push it to s3. I think that's what the article's talking about anyway.

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If you mod me down the terrorists will have won

DIY doesn't work for multiple offices by costas · 2011-07-26 23:24 · Score: 1

We evaluated WebDAV on a hosted system and various open-source solutions (like hosted Alfresco) as alternatives to a company-wide Dropbox license. The fact is that if you want to have anything more sophisticated than a simple fileserver (e.g. different folder permissions, multiple file versions, somewhat sane conflict resolution), there is no good free alternative at this point if you have remote people --if you've heard of one, I'd love a pointer.

For a local LAN, I'd stick with Alfresco on a decent box, but Alfresco falls apart on remote connections, and plain WebDAV is too slow / buggy.

In the end we went with Egnyte. It's not without its faults (buggy iOS client for one, and the Windows clients need some optimization), but it does more than Dropbox/Box.net/Sugarsync/Syncplicity, works great for SOHOs and it's actually cheaper than a VPS that can handle Alfresco and the like.

Re:DIY doesn't work for multiple offices by Zebedeu · 2011-07-27 01:45 · Score: 1

I'm waiting for these guys to get their stuff up to release quality: http://sparkleshare.org/
I'm not brave enough to trust my data to them at this point, but it seems to be the most promising open-source dropbox replacement so far.
Re:DIY doesn't work for multiple offices by complete+loony · 2011-07-27 12:19 · Score: 1

http://sparkleshare.org for the front end. Throwing a windows client together shouldn't be too difficult.
For the back end, gitolite on a central server with local mirrors at each office that are readonly. Configure client git repo's to push writes centrally and read from a local mirror.

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09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.

Simples - Just continue to use Dropbox... by Serif · 2011-07-26 23:30 · Score: 1

... but use something like EncFS to keep all your files encrypted. You still get the advantages of on the fly synchronization over your various computers, but Dropbox loses the ability to do de-duplication to keep their storage costs down. That's what happens when you start playing silly legal games, users work around them and usually to your detriment.

Re:Simples - Just continue to use Dropbox... by bitcoinnaire · 2011-07-27 06:14 · Score: 1

A good option is to create an encrypted volume with TrueCrypt and continue using Dropbox.
Re:Simples - Just continue to use Dropbox... by Serif · 2011-07-27 22:14 · Score: 1

The advantage of using something like EncFS is that changing a file only causes the (encrypted) data for that file to be transferred. Using a TrueCrypt volume causes a potentially large amount of data to have to be transferred for every minor change.
My solution to the problem (not exactly DIY, just using tools available to privacy fix Dropbox's otherwise good solution), was to use EncFS to map a virtual file system onto the directory hierarchy synced using Dropbox. Essentially I have a clear text view that I work in, with every change being automatically reflected as a change in an encrypted file which Dropbox client software sees and syncs in the usual way. Since encryption is done on a per file basis rather than a volume basis, Dropbox still works efficiently. I use this to keep a directory tree synced on four OS X and Linux boxes.

AjaXplorer by kramulous · 2011-07-26 23:31 · Score: 1

I've never used DropBox but when family was wanting me to join so they could share some family movies (Canada and Australia) I set up AjaXplorer

It may not be the same but everyone liked it, used it and found it easy to use.

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It just got easier on Android by phonewebcam · 2011-07-26 23:38 · Score: 2

The basic "cloning a commercial service is easy" tone of this article used to be ok up to a point - realtime push notifications. All clients need to know when items were dropped, not just what. For Android, up until version 2.2 this was a pain - you had to implement long poll http battery-draining lookup schemes. Not so nowadays - 2.2+ gives developers C2DM - cloud to device messaging - which should put the nail amongst the pigeons, to deliberately mix my metaphors. Now any app/server can basically push to any handset (that's running your listening software, natch), so it's hello to IM'ing every app etc, and a genuine worry for those previously in this exclusive space.

Disclaimer - I wrote the drop.io Android client before Facebook bought them out and I never heard from them again.

Anything from FTP up is an improvement by dbIII · 2011-07-26 23:48 · Score: 1

It's really depressing that dropbox didn't even come up the the standard of ordinary FTP from about twenty years ago.
If you want something that behaves a bit more like dropbox for the UI but is orders of magnitude more secure you could probably do it with rsync, ssh, zenity for the UI and half a dozen lines of bash script - probably in under a day even if you have to google for what all those terms I used are. That's how appallingly bad dropbox is - with all that is freely available today they couldn't even put something together that was as good as FTP twenty years ago. That's truly an epic fail.

Re:Anything from FTP up is an improvement by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 00:28 · Score: 0

they just had good seed pr, probably from few "cool" bloggers. I know people who have multiple servers of their own.. yet they insist on using dropbox for things they should keep private.

Can't beat unison by digitalderbs · 2011-07-27 00:00 · Score: 2

Every two years or so, I critically evaluate my options for this problem--even going through the trouble of posting an AskSlashdot on the topic--and every time, I always come back to unison. There are many DIY, non-cloud managed solutions out there; see this article for a useful comparison matrix. I've even tried using git for automated versioning and syncing. However, none seem to work as cleanly as a unison setup combined with a DynDNS IP forward to my home box. Include snapshot backups using StoreBackup--the best backup tool, IMHO--and you have a setup that is tough to beat.

Re:Can't beat unison by IpalindromeI · 2011-07-27 02:51 · Score: 1

Just wonder if you've looked at rdiff-backup or rsnapshot and what the advantages/disadvantages might be versus StoreBackup, in your opinion. I'm in the research phase of setting up a home backup solution and had all but decided on one of those, but hadn't come across StoreBackup until seeing your comment.

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Promoting critical thinking since 1994.
Re:Can't beat unison by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 03:51 · Score: 0

I agree.. I've been using unison + openvpn for two years now and it serves me fine. I also do an rdiff-backup on the repository after every sync and I have unlimited versions. If you wanted a completely tricked out solution you could even use something like ajaxplorer for web access. I've never gone that far though, don't need web access.
Re:Can't beat unison by twistedcubic · 2011-07-27 07:53 · Score: 1

I agree too. Unison is the killer app for people who do serious work on more than one computer. I only recently started using Openvpn, and I am impressed with its ability to keep connections going-- I configured it once, and everything works automatically. Unison, Openvpn, Openssh, GNU Screen, Vim, TeX, R, Git, Debian... my God, I'm an elitist snob :)
Re:Can't beat unison by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-29 06:17 · Score: 0

You sir, was the only one providing what the headline is saying. 1up.

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 00:03 · Score: 0

Home server + git + gitweb + webserver + httpauth + cron

if you need all file: git pull / clone
if you need a specified file: open gitweb

SVN by chrisreichel · 2011-07-27 00:06 · Score: 1

I have an account on Dreamhost. In my case I use SVN as my 'poors guy dropbox.' Works on Windows (turtoise), android, Linux and Mac....

Re:SVN by CastrTroy · 2011-07-27 01:00 · Score: 1

Exactly. Although I use my SVN only for code projects, it would work equally well for documents and other files. Dreamhost also gives you (as part of the $10 package) 50 GB of "backup" storage in which you can store whatever you want. So if you have a big archive of family photos you want to upload, you can go right ahead and do that.

--

Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Re:SVN by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 08:52 · Score: 0

I used to use SVN but the downside of it is you must store a local working copy so if your directory is 1Gb, you need to have another 1Gb 'hidden' and then the 1Gb copy online. Also once it got to 5Gb or more SVN just choked. It is really geared towards small text files (ie. source code)

Tarsnap by Monoecus · 2011-07-27 00:08 · Score: 1

I use tarsnap.com for backup because

1) the source code is public
2) encryption and compression takes place on your machine before being sent over
3) it offers incremental backup
4) it is extremely cheap...

For collaboration I use bazaar... Anything else?

Why is this in Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 00:12 · Score: 0

Seriously... such a dumb article in the front page of Slashdot?

Plug computers by Yvanhoe · 2011-07-27 00:13 · Score: 1

That's a job for plug computers : buy one, plug it to AC, plug it to ethernet, ssh to it, change root password, create users. Voila, you have a sFTP server ! You could even automatize the last step so that the user would never see the much dreaded command line that really gives too much power to users in this area of dumbed down GUIs.

--
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.

Re:Plug computers by Yvanhoe · 2011-07-27 00:24 · Score: 1

s/area/era

--
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Re:Plug computers by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 08:22 · Score: 0

No offense, but you are missing the point of the cloud services.
Running a server gets the functionality of the cloud services, none of the convenience.
I have a plug computer, and I have a plug computer running PogoPlug, and pogoplug is far more convenient and easier to use.
Re:Plug computers by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 09:14 · Score: 0

I absolutely agree that the way we should interface with any piece of equipment - from DVD players to fridges and even musical instruments - should always be via command line tools. I can't even begin to explain the frustrations of playing a piano and having to deal with those keys; they're so clumsy. I'd much rather type "play C-2 + play E-2 + play G-2" into a shell. It's more powerful too since you can pipe the play commands from a script. In all I think a QWERTY keyboard interface to a piano just makes more sense than those white and black keys (heck they don't even have characters painted on them!!). Also, how much easier would that fridge be if only we had man pages? I can't think of any objections someone would have to online documentation at the fingertips. Imagine if those first-time users could simply type "man open_door" or "man salad_drawer" and everything you need is right there.
And why do we have those ridiculous power buttons on things?? You should pull up a shell and type "power on" to switch things on. You can have a mini linux server inside everything that's always on and hooked up to a keyboard so that way you always have something 'on' that you can use to switch something else 'on'. The industry really does have this all wrong.

tears for redundancy by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 00:16 · Score: 0

FTP

Wuala by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 00:23 · Score: 0

There's still Wuala.

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch ... by skegg · 2011-07-27 00:26 · Score: 1

... you must first ... invent the universe

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by Pieroxy · 2011-07-27 00:33 · Score: 1

You most certainly can judge Cloud solutions as one evil entity. Data is not in your hands. Even if you find a good vendor, he might get hacked, he might sell to some evil counterpart, etc...

What is in your home is under your responsibility. For the rest, you have to trust someone.

--
Write boring code, not shiny code!

Certificate Authentication? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 00:38 · Score: 0

Are there any personal (non-business specific) online storage services that use certificate authentication instead of username / password ? It would be nice if the certificate was also used to encrypt the data on the client side. I have so far only found one service (http://www.lock-box.com/processes-and-keys/) and it appears to be aimed specifically at businesses. It does not have to be a free service, just aimed at end-users (multiple) and reasonably priced.

ifolder by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 00:59 · Score: 1

We've had good success with ifolder running our file sharing system. It can be a bit of a bear to get up and running (especially on debian based systems), but once it's up and running it's very easy to use and admin. It's particularly nice because of the distributed nature, everyone gets their own copy of the file, so even if you can get access to the server, you can work on your files, push them when you get a chance, pull new ones down, whatever. Finally, it's designed for you to host your own server, and setting up that server is trivial.

The downside is that it's a novell castaway, and support is not particularly good. I'm hoping the community will rally and improve support as it's finally become open-source, but until then....

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by MightyYar · 2011-07-27 01:05 · Score: 1

What is in your home is under your responsibility. For the rest, you have to trust someone.

I disagree with your premise. Presuming you have network connectivity, you are "trusting" all the vendors that stand between your data and the internet. Windows, Linux, MacOS, even ssh, all have a history of exploits. You are trusting Microsoft or Apple or some open source developer. You are also trusting the vendor who makes your router or modem. You are also trusting your locksmith or lockmaker and security system installer.

I understand the concern with control over your data in the cloud - but nothing stops you from limiting or encrypting the data you send into it.

--
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.

ampache by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 01:10 · Score: 0

Ampache (not a misspelling) is great. Check it out, Linux action show did a feature on it.

Unison by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 01:10 · Score: 1

As long as you don't have any filenames that aren't in the English character set, I've found UNISON works perfectly no matter where in the world you travel so long as you can SSH into your box..

apt-get install unison-gtk

The password prompt even allows you to use One-Time-Passwords (Yubikeys) with Unison after you set up your PAM for OTP..

http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

Mod parent up by TBBle · 2011-07-27 01:11 · Score: 1

I was going to suggest iFolder, but this post's already here. I like it because I set it up, handed it off to a non-IT person to run, and only hear a complaint when someone shuts down the server.

It's basically a dropbox workalike from user perspective, as far as I can tell. With cross-platform client support to boot.

Well, except one bug involving a user with admin privileges somehow removing all owners for a particular folder. You can still use it, but can't access it with the admin interface. There's a data repair I've never managed to apply...

But yeah, overall, very happy with it. The main Debian pain is to do with Debian's mono-apache integration setup getting in the way, if I recall correctly. I ended up turning that off. ^_^

--
Paul "TBBle" Hampson
Paul.Hampson@Pobox.Com

DataOnDemand anyone? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 01:36 · Score: 1

With all the recent trouble dropbox had our company IT chief didn't allow use it anymore so we had find something else. We were looking for DIY solutions as well until we found dataondemand. Our company has been using it for a while now and it feels pretty much like a dropbox replacement except the higher ups are happy now as we are allowed to run the servers on the company network instead of some untrusted 3rd party.

Demo versions are available on their website I believe http://dataondemand.se

how about syncany by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 01:51 · Score: 0

http://www.syncany.org/ is an open source program which can sync data to a variety of cloud backend's but encrypts it first. However its not hit its first release yet.

What about Jungledisk? by slipangle · 2011-07-27 01:56 · Score: 1

They appear to have better security than Dropbox, but how can I be sure?

Re:What about Jungledisk? by Dan541 · 2011-07-27 03:23 · Score: 1

I've been using Jungle Disk for a while now. Encryption is done on the client side, which was a big selling point for me.

--
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by GreatBunzinni · 2011-07-27 02:16 · Score: 1

#1, "building your own" misses the entire point of using a cloud service. The whole idea is that I don't have to build my own infrastructure - I just sign up and use theirs.

First of all, this "cloud" idiocy is nothing more than marketing speak to fool idiots into believing that a corporation providing web-services through their is something new and, more astonishingly, something desireable.

Regarding your claim, it is nonsense. The whole idea of using a web-service is to access some service through a network. A web service is always a web service, no matter who owns the hardware or who pays to run things. Therefore, it is obvious that "the whole idea" of using a web service is not to mindlessly use some third-party service without questioning the consequences or costs. Instead, the whole idea of using a web service is to benefit from a service provided through a network. Nothing more, nothing less.

Therefore, if someone happens to have an old computer taking up space somewhere and if that person happens to need to host files on a server which is connected to a network then, instead of relying on a third-party to provide that service, that person can very well set up their own personal server and provide the service that he needs. And the best part is that by doing it that person is no longer bound to a mutable contract which no one really knows what it states but guarantees privacy breeches and can, in practice, benefit from a limit-less service. If you don't see the point in this then you are clueless to the implications of the choice you are advocating.

changing to another provider or buying a piece of sync software is not building your own.

Although changing to another provider is not "building your own", installing a server on your own hardware so that you yourself are able to provide your own unlimited, customized service does in fact mean that you are building your own service. And if you don't believe it is then try to mention it in any conversation, and see how you would refer to it as "my own service" instead of "dropbox's service".

--
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.

What about BarracudaDrive? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 02:45 · Score: 0

Google BarracudaDrive.

Not free, but does what you want i.e. the permission stuff.

It's Microsoft that sucks by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 02:54 · Score: 0

You blame WebDAV for Microsoft's bad WebDAV client implementation.
It is for that reason you have many alternatives for Windows.
WebDAV works great on most devices, including iPhone and Android.
It's unfortunately not working on my Windows 7 phone.

Re:It's Microsoft that sucks by jawtheshark · 2011-07-27 03:40 · Score: 1

I don't blame WebDAV for the clients failings. I just say that it's not a workable solution when your clients are Windows (and you can't change that). Big difference.

--
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)

*shrug* by vegiVamp · 2011-07-27 03:04 · Score: 1

What I want from a dropbox alternative, is it's most basic of functionalities: transparent multi-client sync.

I want it to both up- AND downsync the files, from multiple clients at once, without anyone having to click things; and based on filesystem triggers, not some lousy cronjob.

Could be done with iNotify + csync2, I guess; although you also need a mechanism for the server to notify the clients that a file has changed. And then you need to build a client for Macs (they have iNotify or something similar too, being BSD), then Windows (no clue what they have) and then various iThings, Android, Symbian and random stuff.

Easy, eh ?

--
What a depressingly stupid machine.

Re:*shrug* by lbates_35476 · 2011-07-27 03:47 · Score: 1

As a provider of secure cloud storage (vitalesafe.com), I can tell you that this is anything but easy. It appears easy on the surface, but collisions (files changing on multiple clients simultaneously and files changing while they are being uploaded), locking, versioning, etc. make this much more difficult than it first appears. Add in the cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Android, Symbian, iPhone/iPad) requirements as well as multi-lingual character sets and differing rules about folder/file name rules and this gets to be quite complex. I've had more than one user (and even IT professionals) say all they want is a "simple online storage solution" but don't understand the ramifications of limited Internet upload bandwidth. If you add a secure requirement, which introduces complexity that end-users HATE, and this is no small task. What users seem to want it 100% security, 100% bi-directional synchronization without any user intervention, and 0% additional complexity.
Re:*shrug* by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 05:14 · Score: 0

Try SpiderOak.
Re:*shrug* by vegiVamp · 2011-07-27 23:17 · Score: 1

The "Easy, eh" was sarcasm :-)
I'm well aware of the complexity. Csync2 works very well for bidirectional sync, but is cron-based and only exists for Linux afaik. Tying it in to inotify shouldn't be exceedingly hard; but then there's the cross-platform bit. And it should work using a simple installer, so random Joe Luser doesn't have to fuck about with rules files and key exchanges.
Not obvious indeed.
I'm not even thinking about versioning, yet. You might be able to simply handle versioning using a versioning filesystem on the server, though - the old VMS filesystem did that, and I seem to recall that BTR either does it or was planning to do it.

--
What a depressingly stupid machine.
Re:*shrug* by vegiVamp · 2011-07-27 23:32 · Score: 1

Microsoft, Mac, Linux clients: check.
Android, iOS, Maemo clients: check.
Mostly a backup solution so probably cronned; but apparently somethign called "sync", too, which may be as-you-save. No Symbian client, which is a shame, but might indeed be worth looking at. What I'm really looking for, per the article, is a diy setup, though. Hell, I might even pay a modest license to have their repository running on my own server. Yes, I also run my own weave for firefox synching and stuff like that :-)

--
What a depressingly stupid machine.
Re:*shrug* by lbates_35476 · 2011-07-28 01:01 · Score: 1

Bi-direction sync is hard because of the conflicts that can occur (i.e. file changes on more than one system) and limited upload bandwidth. I know of no solution to conflicts other than manual intervention and end-users that I've worked with don't want to "think" about the consequences and make this decision. Even if you could get them to "think" about it, presenting the conflict to them and asking them to decide what to do isn't easy.

You are correct that a versioning file system would help (it cold be used as a work-around to conflicts by saving all versions in chronological order), but then none of the production off-the-shelf file systems (NTFS, EXT3/4, XFS) do that today.

IMHO to the vast majority this seems like a simple problem, but it implementing it isn't nearly as easy as it seems at first blush.

MyVDrive is a viable alternative. by nyhnpya · 2011-07-27 04:14 · Score: 1

We offer an alternative solution (www.myvdrive.net) which runs on all Linux distros, Mac, and Windows. We are currently in a beta phase and getting ready to release. Right now our beta does not offer sharing, but the official release will have sharing and change logs. We do not offer synchronization so we do not run into the issues that most other providers run into using a sync protocol. We have a single copy of the file that is always on the server. So you must be connected to the internet to access a file. We also use native device drivers so our access is very fast and real time.

Done been done for yourself. by sgt+scrub · 2011-07-27 04:26 · Score: 1

Anyone using *nix of any kind should be used to being able to put files on any of their machines at any time, nfs, rsync, cifs, sftp, scp. At least that is what I've always thought. Maybe it is an age thing. Anyway. When I'm stuck having to use a windows machine one of the first things I do is downloaded winSCP so I can get to stuff.

--
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.

younity - similar, but different by ph0ust · 2011-07-27 04:29 · Score: 1

it hasn't been released yet, but goes in to beta soon. it is different than dropbox in that it is much less file sharing/collaboration oriented, but it does a lot of what some people have asked for- complete transparent sync across all device types. you can sign up at http://getyounity.com/

I did DIY... by GWBasic · 2011-07-27 05:01 · Score: 1

I recently started a job with Syncplicity, a company that makes a similar product targeted towards enterprise use. Needless to say, it feels like DIY to me because a lot of the improvements that I put into the product are based on what I observe in my own personal use.

I wouldn't advise taking the DIY approach for a Dropbox replacement, unless it's a career decision. Magic folder synchronization requires a lot of expertise in many different areas of programming, system administration, database administration, security, and low-level API implementation. It's not something that can be whipped up in a weekend.

--
No, I will not work for your startup

Alternatives by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 05:07 · Score: 0

How about sparkleshare?Uses git...
There are enough alternatives out there you just need space to host.
Best way is using Dropbox + Enc

Re:That's not DIY! (It's PogoPlug) by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 05:08 · Score: 0

PogoPlug provides a software only solution that runs on your PC or they will sell you a >$100 box that draws a few watts to host your files if you don't want to leave your PC on. I have a PogoPlug hardware box and love it. Works on my iPad and iPhone too.

Of course Netgear NAS units (and other solutions from equally good companies) can also serve this function if you have a fixed IP address, but PogoPlug routes the traffic through cloud servers so it runs on any home network with dynamic IP support.

DropBox + TrueCrypt by metrometro · 2011-07-27 05:16 · Score: 1

Let Dropbox do what it's really quite good at: ubiquitous access on a number of platforms. Meanwhile, don't trust them for shit, because they haev no real incentive to provide more than superficial "trust me" security. Instead, create a TrueCrypt partition on your Dropbox drive so that the only thing Dropbox is hosting is one giant file which no one at Dropbox (or any other service) can decrypt. Because both mount as hard drives, using them together is surprisingly low hassle: it reads to the user like any other partition. There are, I'm sure, ways to attack this (fellow /.ers, enlighten me!), but the basic framework seems pretty solid - Dropbox can get broken wide open, and you don't care at all.

Quit asking what cloud provider can be trusted, and look for solutions which do not require trust in institutions you do not own.

Re:DropBox + TrueCrypt by Bucky24 · 2011-07-27 06:35 · Score: 1

The main problem with this, as has been pointed out in previous articles on Dropbox, is that if Dropbox decides to re-upload the entire file if a piece changes, that means every time you make a single change to the TruCrypt file, Dropbox re-uploads the entire thing. Then again, if it uses a segmented method and only uploads portions that have changed (though even if they do I doubt they'd do it for straight binary files) this isn't as much of a problem.

--
All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents

Nomadesk by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 05:17 · Score: 0

I started using Nomadesk in March and now I cannot live without it. Recently my HD started having problems and I had to send in my computer to get fixed and get the HD replaced. Backedup everything on Nomadesk and all is well now!

Most posters don't seem to get what Dropbox is by matthewv789 · 2011-07-27 05:31 · Score: 1

90% of the suggestions to "replace" Dropbox expose ignorance about why Dropbox is so popular.
- Automatic, almost immediate synchronization of shared files across multiple devices of varying types (which in the process are backed up to "the cloud")
- Automatic versioning of shared files
- Easy sharing of files on the public internet (via a clickable link to a publicly-accessible url)
- Fast synchronization and file upload/download (sometimes, due to de-duplication, where if it finds the signature already in their system, it doesn't need to store or transfer another copy of the file at all)
- Dead easy for users and IT (only need to install their app, then use is essentially transparent and automatic)
- Cheap (most smaller organizations may be fine with plans ranging form free to $20/month) - as opposed to how many hours of developer time setting up a custom solution? Especially across many users/devices/device types?

On the other hand, some of the security/privacy/etc. concerns are real:
- Dropbox (the company) has access to your encryption keys used to secure content on the server. Thus there are various potential scenarios for your information being accessed by others or made public in some way
- GLOBAL de-duplication across the entire system means your files might be identified as identical to someone else's files. At the least others could infer that an uploaded file had previously been uploaded to the system by another user (potentially leading to a court order to produce the information of all users that had uploaded a file matching that signature). Another remote possibility is two different files that generate the same signature. One user's file would be lost (ie, never uploaded to the server), while the other user(s) would be granted access to a file not belonging to them.
- various TOS concerns, etc.

So people want a system as easy and transparent to use, and as useful and functional as Dropbox, but where they can keep their own server encryption keys to themselves, not mix their data up with others through global de-duplication (even potentially), perhaps host on their own servers for full access control, etc.

(Another feature that might be useful, which I haven't seen in Dropbox or any of the usual alternatives, would be automatic LOCAL file encryption on each device, to help provide security in case a laptop is stolen, for instance.)

Of course if all you need is SOME of Dropbox's functionality, particularly if your users are all technical, then there are plenty of other solutions already (such as existing version control systems).

Re:Most posters don't seem to get what Dropbox is by stating_the_obvious · 2011-07-27 06:03 · Score: 1

Spot on...someone +4 the above post.

The only thing I've seen that comes close to a FOSS replacement for dropbox is sparkleshare, but it's not quite there yet in terms of be accessible from all platforms. I wish I had time to contribute to the effort. I guess if I stop trolling /. I could free up a few hours a week

strato hidrive by allo · 2011-07-27 05:31 · Score: 0

100 gb online storage for 5 eur per month ... access via ftp/samba/sftp/rsync/scp/http
you can mount it with an encfs to encrypt your files or use a encrypting backup tool (i use duplicity) for security.

there is just no free version, but it starts with 2 eur per month for 20 GB

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by Bucky24 · 2011-07-27 06:29 · Score: 1

Don't forget you're also trusting your ISP as well as the backbone service provider who carries your data across the internet.

--
All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents

DFS? by Vrtigo1 · 2011-07-27 06:57 · Score: 1

DFS namespaces and DFS replication would solve this problem. It's what I use. It does have the disadvantage that you need Windows servers to make it work, but it's totally transparent and awesome once you get it going. I have a Windows server at home and another colo'ed (these are actually just VMs running on ESXi). I use a DFS namespace and have a target folder on each server. So, I can work on either set of files, and Windows keeps them in sync transparently, so for instance if I work on the files at the colo, then go home, I have a local copy of the files so access to them is nice and fast.

ownCloud by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 07:26 · Score: 0

I use ownCloud...it does the job.

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-27 09:28 · Score: 0

with offsite storage, you are 100% sure your data is in someone else's hands. data on your hd is only statistically at risk . getting people used to the idea of offsite storage is really bad because most people choose convenience over safety, and safety over freedom.

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by MightyYar · 2011-07-27 09:58 · Score: 1

you are 100% sure your data is in someone else's hands.

While this is true, it is also a necessity. You need to have off-site storage for backups. Whether it's an external drive sitting in your girlfriend's closet or a big binary blob on Dropbox's systems doesn't really matter - you should still be encrypting anything sensitive.

--
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.

That is false by higuita · 2011-07-27 10:31 · Score: 1

That is false, i use nephthys in my company and have no problem with any windows (xp, vista and 7), just map a network drive using the webdav url (using http(s):// url, not webdav:// ) and works fine...
macosx and linux (kde dolphin at least) too works fine, but they use the webdav:// format url

i later moved to https and to work i only had to get a valid certificate (get one free in startssl.com)

nephthys dont use authentication, so maybe if there is a problem, it lies in the auth part of windows

--
Higuita

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by jon3k · 2011-07-28 07:26 · Score: 1

The entire point of cloud solutions isn't outsourcing. That's SaaS/PaaS/IaaS. Those are not necessarily one in the same. Ever heard of private clouds? The concept of clouds is one of abstraction and universal accessibility.

Re:Lame article. DNRTFA. by subreality · 2011-07-28 14:49 · Score: 1

I agree; I should have said SAAS or IAAS.

s/a cloud service/software as a service/

188 comments