Free openSource Nextcloud now selected by EU governments

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Tinkerisk

4224 posts

Uber Geek

#255966 8-Sep-2019 21:36

https://nextcloud.com/blog/eu-governments-choose-independence-from-us-cloud-providers-with-nextcloud/

This is the successor of the former ownCloud and I have it in use since 2015. The self hosted cloud makes you completely independent from the big players having an eye to your personal data. Even my son uses it 24/7 on his Raspberry Pi 3B+ with an 1TB 2.5" WD HDD for his school magazine compilation and editing, class photo exchange and student research projects. As like dropbox, you can grant access to a shared file for anybody via a link (with or without a timeline). It's available for most platforms including Docker image. For security, the storage media can be encrypted. After the installation there are many collaborative apps available for functional enhancements.

Here's a simple guide for non-techies for a Raspberry Pi server installation https://docs.nextcloudpi.com/en/ which is quite comfortable in comparison what I had to accomplish in 2015 with no ready made RPi image available. The functions are the same as on big data center installations except the performance in case of too many users or high bandwith demand.

Feel free to test it with cheap RPi 3B, a SD card and an USB HDD laying around in the home lab or install it on a VM. :-)

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

Tinkerisk

4224 posts

Uber Geek

#2313321 8-Sep-2019 22:46

Remark: sorry CG-NAT internet customers - this tip unfortunately isn't for you!

... since you'll need a dynamic or static PUBLIC IP address and you have to open ports 80 and 443 on the router - which will be protected after the correct install including fail2ban and letsencrypt. You have several means to convince yourself of your overall security rating later on which will be A+ at the end. Yes, this little guy is capable to withstand the evil attacks ... so don't worry!

Don't forget to test it with the relevant syncronizing client (app) for IOS, Android, Windows, Linux and MacOS platforms.

Have fun!

kingjj

1728 posts

Uber Geek

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#2313558 9-Sep-2019 13:59

Have been running NextCloud since it was forked from OwnCloud which I'd had running since around 2011. It's pretty solid but boy is it finicky with dependencies. For years I ran it on a cpanel server which was a nightmare to maintain (my own server, NC just doesn't like shared environments). Recently moved the install to a dedicated instance and it works a treat now. I know of several NZ Gov departments that are using NC for various functions.