Is there an active self-hostable solution similar to Dropbox, GDrive? NextCloud not considered, too bloated, not polished.
Seafile is probably the next biggest/most developed alternative. When I’ve tried setting it up in the past I’ve had serious issues getting it running behind a reverse proxy. Would be fine for local or VPN/Tailscale style usage though. Also, data is stored in a proprietary database which would make configuring external backups a bit harder.
Syncthing is probably the most flexible option, but it’s not a “cloud” storage solution, it’s peer-to-peer file syncing. Doesn’t really allow for easy selective sync or quick deployment and configuration.
There’s also Owncloud but I don’t have experience with it.
I use both Seafile and Syncthing for various things.
I’ve managed to setup seafile ok behind traefik as a reverse proxy. Seafile has a basic web front end and allows you to integrate with Collabora for editing open document files. Its fine to just shut down the docker and copy the database I’ve found for backup. Or you can copy the files themselves, if you don’t care about the change history (which I don’t). I have as script to do this each night. Seafood isn’t too hefty and runs well on an RPi, even the collabora integration does.
Syncthing is a really good piece of software and I use this to share files from my RPi to my phone, but bare in mind by default its send&receive both sides so its not suitable for backups in that state.
Let me know if you want to know more.
Can you elaborate on your needs? Google Drive is so many things! Also, what are the things you don’t need in Nextcloud that makes you think it is “bloated”?
Synology has software for that.
Syncthing
Seems like the only option for something that can be on a multipurpose PC.
Set up your folders, get your devices synced, and it pretty much sorts itself from there.
I’ve had minor temporary issues with Syncthing, nothing that hasn’t been fixed quickly (and have yet to had them happen again).
Great for music and photos between PC and phone and for transfers between music production PC and gaming PC. Better than Dropbox and GDrive for most purposes (lacking support for online link sharing, which isn’t very important)
