Build a 'dropbox'-like system?


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Hello,

I am new to unRAID but am excited to have built my own system--I may even post pics! Besides the obvious use of media server, I would also like to try to use unRAID to sync files from my development laptop(s) to the unRAID server over the Internet, similar to the way I use Dropbox. I like Dropbox, but I wondered if it were possible to build something similar. I realize that there may be many 'moving parts' to this and perhaps the concept is a foolish one overall, but I am merely curious if it could be done and what might be the best way to achieve this goal. Currently I am looking at using:

a) Freefilesync w/real-time-monitor on Windows (I use this already, so I'm familiar with it but not married to it)

b) something called ExpanDrive for Windows (SFTP destination mapped as a Windows drive-letter); it's not free ($39/each)

c) proftpd installed on unRAID through unMENU?

 

Looking at this "Rube Goldberg-esque" list of moving parts, I feel that perhaps there might be a better way. So I leave it to the experts here to come to my aid, if possible. Any suggestions would be most appreciated, even if the answer is to abandon the idea. ;)

Thank you for reading!

--Jeff

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Thanks for the reply and the links, Dase and WeeboTech!

 

I should have further clarified that I wish to have my unRAID act in a manner similar to the dropbox servers, whereby i would no longer have a need to use dropbox and certainly overcome the space limit of 2GB or one of their paid subscriptions. Since I will have TB of disk space, I wish to access it anywhere I have my client setup. So, for example, while I am at work, I would like to have access to my unRAID to place files that I may wish to access at home when I get home. My PC at work should "monitor" a folder of my choice and send the changes to my unRAID at home periodically.

 

WeeboTech, rather than bungling up an explanation of Dropbox, here is a link to their site which should explain all:

https://www.dropbox.com/features

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  • 1 month later...

Hey Guys, I joined dropbox and I love it. It really would  be great to have a system setup for access via a web interface. If you dont have dropbox, you should at least give it a try. Here is my referral link if you want to join and check it out. When you use the link both you and I get an extra 250MB on top of our 2GB for when unRAID starts to support it :D

 

http://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTU0MzE1Njk

 

 

Chanders

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  • 2 months later...

Dropbox used to have a statement in their terms of service that basically stated that they owned any files you uploaded to it and had the right to sell those files in the event of an acquisition. Anyone know if that is still true? I skimmed the TOS just now and didn't see it this time.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Dropbox used to have a statement in their terms of service that basically stated that they owned any files you uploaded to it and had the right to sell those files in the event of an acquisition. Anyone know if that is still true? I skimmed the TOS just now and didn't see it this time.

 

I think that was probably more fear-mongering than anything else.  Their privacy policy states that they might sell/transfer/share your personal information.  That's been interpreted to mean your files by people that didn't read the first part of the privacy policy, which pretty clearly describes "personal information" in a way that doesn't include your files.  Their terms do, however, explicitly state they don't assert ownership over your files.

 

Still, sites can change their terms of service at any time (actually, I can't find a nice disclaimer to that effect in their terms, but I assume it has got to be there somewhere).  So, if you don't trust Dropbox not to sell things you don't want them to sell, you shouldn't use them.

 

The clause about selling personal information is pretty standard.  I suspect you'd find that language in almost any commercial site that collects personal information.  I'm not sure if removing that clause would even change anything legally.  I think customer databases would still be considered assets in bankruptcy court.  When CompUSA and Circuit City went under their customer databases were sold off.

 

In any event, I'm curious about getting Dropbox-like functionality with unRAID.  Basically, I'd like to keep my "My Documents" folders synchronized across my laptops and desktop.  I'm a dropbox user too, but I don't use that for a couple reasons.  First, because I'm just a free user and I have more than 2 gigs of stuff in my "My Documents" folder. A second, while I might be willing to pay for Dropbox, you can't have it monitor arbitrary folders without doing weird hacks.  iFolder looks like it might be a good option, but I'm curious if anyone has used it with unRAID.

 

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Watch out for Sparkleshare in the coming year, if its development continues along at a reasonable pace. It's essentially trying to be a free/open-source Dropbox built on top of a git backend. They've got an alpha for Linux and a teaser screenshot of a Mac client sitting in the menubar.

 

http://sparkleshare.org/

 

A stable release is probably quite a ways away, but the code's sitting on github so one could try right now. Dunno about their plans for a Windows client.

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Watch out for Sparkleshare in the coming year, if its development continues along at a reasonable pace. It's essentially trying to be a free/open-source Dropbox built on top of a git backend. They've got an alpha for Linux and a teaser screenshot of a Mac client sitting in the menubar.

 

http://sparkleshare.org/

 

A stable release is probably quite a ways away, but the code's sitting on github so one could try right now. Dunno about their plans for a Windows client.

 

Very cool...

 

I will have to follow this and see what becomes of it.

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I'm on a Mac and I use Transmit (http://www.panic.com/transmit) to mount my unraid server as a drive via SSH (SSH is obviously installed on the unraid server and router forwards SSH traffic). It's invisible to the OS, in fact I have iTunes running now using my library at home.

 

Interesting... Do you think Time Machine would allow a backup to one of the drives if it was mounted?  Might be a way around the afp problems.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

Anyone see this: http://ifolder.com/ifolder

 

I have a friend running it and he says it is pretty good!  I think it has clients for all the different OS's.  Runs on Slackware which I think it would run on unraid...

 

Are there any instructions on how to get this to work with unRAID? I would love something like this too. Would save me the hassle of trying to keep multiple copies of photos, music, and other files that I keep on several computers but update all the time.

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I was actually looking at iOmega's new setup they have with what they called Personal Cloud. It creates a Dropbox like feature with some of their NAS devices. Which honestly, that is very attractive to me but still costs a lot to hardware and I already have my unRAID working, mostly how I like it. But something like this I would love to see. I know it would save me a lot of headaches and it would be unRAID way ahead of most of the game if it was a native feature.

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Yes, this would be sweet for applications like video editing, where you could keep your local files accessible and have it instantly backup any changes and have a duplicate copy on the unRaid, where it would also be duplicated to other editing computers... *drooling*

 

My guess is that you would have to have some sort of client program for your other computers that would be syncing to the unRaid so that when changes occur, it can initiate the rsync updating process or something like that.

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Anything like this out there that is trustworthy? I don't trust Dropbox.

 

Any US company would be legally obligated to do the same.  The change in the Dropbox terms of service is essentially meaningless- anyone should have known that Dropbox would turn over your data to law enforcement if given a warrant.  Because you can access your Dropbox folder from a simple web browser, anyone should have known Dropbox can access whatever data it wants.

 

The problem isn't that Dropbox is not trustworthy.  I think it probably is, to the extent you can expect any corporation to be trustworthy.  The problem is that you shouldn't have to trust Dropbox to the extent that you do.  I'd like to see a Dropbox competitor that combines user-specific password-derived encryption keys for all data uploaded to an account.  You might lose some functionality.  You would need some sort of java applet or browser plugin to use a web browser to access files.  You might have a harder time sharing files with other users in a secure way, but that can be overcome with some clever crypto on the back-end. 

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Any US company would be legally obligated to do the same.  The change in the Dropbox terms of service is essentially meaningless- anyone should have known that Dropbox would turn over your data to law enforcement if given a warrant.  Because you can access your Dropbox folder from a simple web browser, anyone should have known Dropbox can access whatever data it wants.

Then the answer would be to either only upload truecrypt volumes to Dropbox or do not use a US based company for storing your information.

 

The problem isn't that Dropbox is not trustworthy.  I think it probably is, to the extent you can expect any corporation to be trustworthy.

Which is absolutely NIL and should be for any corporation. Dropbox starts right out by saying they will betray your trust the first chance they get. No reason to ever trust them for me.

 The problem is that you shouldn't have to trust Dropbox to the extent that you do.  I'd like to see a Dropbox competitor that combines user-specific password-derived encryption keys for all data uploaded to an account.  You might lose some functionality.  You would need some sort of java applet or browser plugin to use a web browser to access files.  You might have a harder time sharing files with other users in a secure way, but that can be overcome with some clever crypto on the back-end.  

Well, I just saw someone post this in the forums so I am checking it out. Looks like it takes care of all my dropbox worries. I haven't tested whether it will install headless yet though.

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