Ask HN: Best Way to Store Files in the Cloud Without Third-Party Sync Apps?
I recently lost a lot of data due to issues with my cloud provider, so now I’m looking for a more reliable way to store files in the cloud—something that includes automatic backups but doesn’t rely on third-party sync apps like Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive.
I have multiple server computers that need to upload and download files reliably, preferably using standard protocols (SFTP, WebDAV, rsync, etc.) rather than a dedicated syncing client. Keeping the data at home isn’t an option, and I don’t want to have to think about it—I just need to know my data is safe.
Ideally, the solution should:
- Allow direct access from multiple machines
- Support automatic backups (whether for individual files or full disk images)
- Be cost-effective and scalable in terms of storage size
- Not require installing proprietary syncing software
What are the best options for this? Take a look a rclone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rclone). It supports numerous cloud providers. You'll have to build up the rest of your requirements yourself. rsync.net supports rsync and sftp and has a neat snapshot feature (https://www.rsync.net/resources/howto/snapshots.html) Ceph and its s3 service? If just peer-to-peer syncing between a group of devices is ok, syncthing is great. You could use it as cloud backup if one of the devices is running on a server.