16 Best Open Source Cloud Storage Software for Linux in 2024

The term "cloud" evokes a sense of vastness and expansiveness. In the technology sector, "the cloud" denotes a virtual platform that delivers services to end-users, encompassing data storage, application hosting, and the virtualization of physical resources.

Currently, cloud computing is leveraged by organizations of varying sizes to manage data storage and extend the aforementioned benefits to their customers.

There are primarily three categories of cloud services:

• SaaS (Software as a Service) – This service allows users to utilize publicly accessible clouds offered by major corporations for data storage, such as Gmail.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service) – PaaS enables users to deploy applications or software on other public clouds. An example is Google App Engine, which hosts user applications.
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) – IaaS converts physical machines into virtual ones, making them accessible to customers and providing an experience akin to using actual hardware.

What is Cloud Storage?

Cloud Storage involves the storage of data on remote servers as opposed to local user systems. This concept originated in 1983 when CompuServe first offered its customers 128k of disk space for file storage.

Since its inception, cloud storage has seen continuous evolution and will continue to do so in response to ongoing threats such as data loss, information breaches, hacking, and other malicious attacks.

Consequently, numerous organizations have emerged to offer their cloud storage and data privacy solutions, enhancing and securing its future.

In this article, we will highlight selected open-source cloud storage software for Linux that has gained significant traction among large organizations and the general public.

1. Internxt – Secure Cloud Storage

Internxt offers an open-source cloud storage and collaboration platform designed for both individuals and businesses. The intuitive application is available across platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile devices.

With Internxt, you can upload, sync, and back up files. Internxt Drive encrypts data on your device before transmission over the Internet, ensuring complete privacy and protection from unauthorized access—unlike many other cloud services such as Dropbox or Google Drive.

Tecmint readers can avail a 70% discount on all Internxt lifetime plans. However, the company frequently offers higher discounts on their website, which you should monitor.

2. OwnCloud

As an alternative to Dropbox for Linux users, ownCloud offers functionalities akin to Dropbox. It functions as a self-hosted file sync and share server.

Its open-source nature grants users unlimited storage space. Initiated in January 2010, the project aimed to provide an open-source alternative to proprietary cloud storage services. Written in PHP and JavaScript, it is available for Windows, Linux, and OS X, and offers mobile clients for Android and iOS.

OwnCloud utilizes a WebDav server for remote access and integrates with various databases including SQLite, MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle Database, and PostgreSQL.

It boasts an extensive array of features, such as file storage and encryption, music streaming, content sharing via URLs, mozilla sync hosting, RSS/atom feed reader, one-click app installation, video and PDF viewers, among others.

The latest version, 10, introduces enhancements including a refined design, enabling admins to notify users and set retention limits on files in the trash.

[ You might also like: How to Install OwnCloud Cloud Storage in Linux ]3. Nextcloud

Nextcloud is an open-source suite of client-server applications for creating and utilizing file hosting services. It is available for individual users as well as large enterprises to install and operate on their private server devices.

With Nextcloud, you can share multiple files and folders on your system and synchronize them with your Nextcloud server. Its functionality is similar to Dropbox, but it offers on-premises file storage with robust security, compliance, and flexible synchronization and sharing solutions on servers under your control.

[ You might also like: How to Install NextCloud File Hosting in Linux ]4. Seafile

Seafile is another file-hosting software system that leverages open-source attributes to provide users with the benefits expected from quality cloud storage software. It is coded in C and Python, with the latest stable release being 10.0.1.

Seafile offers desktop clients for Windows, Linux, and OS X, and mobile clients for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. Alongside a community edition under the General Public License, it also provides a professional edition under a commercial license that includes additional features not available in the community edition, such as user logging and text search.

Since its open-sourcing in July 2012, it has attracted international attention. Its primary features include syncing and sharing with a strong emphasis on data safety.

Other features that have made it popular in many universities such as University Mainz, University HU Berlin, and University Strasbourg, as well as among thousands of users worldwide, include online file editing, differential sync to minimize bandwidth usage, and client-side encryption for data security.

[ You might also like: How to Install Seafile Cloud Storage in Linux ]5. Pydio Cells

Pydio Cells, formerly known as Pydio and originally AjaXplorer, is an open-source file-sharing and synchronization software that can be deployed on a user’s personal server or in the cloud.

Pydio Cells is available in two editions: a free and open-source community version (Pydio Cells Home) and a commercially licensed enterprise version (offered in two variants, Pydio Cells Connect and Pydio Cells Enterprise). The enterprise editions include additional features and enhanced support beyond what is available in the community forums.

Additional features of this software include a text editor with syntax highlighting, audio and video playback, integration with Amazon, S3, FTP, or MySQL databases, an image editor, and file or folder sharing via public URLs.

6. Ceph

Ceph was originally developed by Sage Weil for his doctoral dissertation, and in the fall of 2007, he continued working on it full-time and expanded the development team.

In April 2014, Red Hat brought its development in-house. To date, 18 releases of Ceph have been made, with the latest version being 18.2.0. Ceph is a distributed cluster written in C and Python, known for its high scalability and free availability.

Data can be stored in Ceph as a block device, a file, or an object through the RADOS gateway, which supports Amazon S3 and Openstack Swift APIs. Besides its security, scalability, and reliability, Ceph also offers:

• a network file system designed for high performance and large data storage.
• compatibility with VM clients.
• support for partial/complete reads/writes.
• object-level mappings.

7. Syncany

Syncany is one of the lightest and actively developed open-source cloud storage and file-sharing applications, spearheaded by Philipp C. Heckel. It is available as a command-line tool and GUI for all supported platforms.

A key feature of Syncany is that it requires you to provide your own storage, which could be FTP or SFTP storage, WebDAV or Samba Shares, Amazon S3 buckets, among others.

Other features that make it a valuable tool include 128-bit AES Twofish/GCM encryption for all data leaving the local machine, file-sharing support for sharing files with friends, offsite storage chosen by the user instead of provider-based storage, interval-based or on-demand backups, binary compatible file versioning, and local deduplication of files.

It can be particularly beneficial for companies that prefer to utilize their own storage space rather than relying on external providers.

8. Cozy

Cozy is not just a file-sharing or synchronization tool; it's a comprehensive package of functions that can help you build your complete App Engine.

Like Syncany, Cozy offers users flexibility in terms of storage space. You can use your own personal storage or opt for the Cozy team’s servers.

It relies on open-source software for its functionality, including CouchDB for database storage and Whoosh for indexing. It is available across all platforms, including smartphones.

The main features that make it an essential cloud storage software include the ability to store Contacts, Files, Calendar, etc., in the Cloud and synchronize them between laptops and smartphones, the capability to create and share your own apps by simply sharing the Git URL of the repository, and hosting static websites or HTML5 video game consoles.

9. GlusterFS

GlusterFS is a network-attached file storage system. Initially developed by Gluster Inc., this project is now under Red Hat Inc. following their acquisition of Gluster Inc. in 2011. Red Hat integrated Gluster FS with their Red Hat Storage Server and renamed it to Red Hat Gluster Storage.

It is available for platforms such as Linux, OS X, NetBSD, and OpenSolaris, with some parts licensed under GPLv3 and others dual-licensed under GPLv2. It has been utilized as a foundation for academic research.

GlusterFS operates on a client-server model with servers deployed as storage bricks. Clients can connect to a server using a custom protocol over TCP/IP, Infiniband, or SDP and store files on the GlusterFS server.

Various functionalities it employs over files include file-based mirroring and replication, file-based stripping, load balancing, scheduling, and disk caching, among others.

A particularly useful feature is its flexibility, as data is stored on native file systems like xfs, ext4, etc.

[ You might also like: How to Install GlusterFS (File System) in Linux ]10. Git-annex

Git-annex is another file synchronization service developed by Joey Hess, which aims to solve file sharing and synchronization issues but is independent of any commercial service or central server. It is written in Haskell and available for Linux, Android, OS X, and Windows.

Git-annex manages the user's git repository without storing the session in git. Instead, it stores only the link to the file in the git repository and manages the files associated with the link in a separate location. This ensures the availability of file duplicates in case of lost information recovery.

It also ensures the instant availability of file data when required, preventing the need for files to be present on each system, which significantly reduces memory overhead. Notably, git-annex is available on various Linux distributions including Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, etc.

11. XigmaNAS

XigmaNAS is a robust and customizable open-source NAS (Network-Attached Storage) operating system based on FreeBSD, designed for sharing computer data storage over a network.

It can be installed on virtually any hardware platform and supports data sharing across Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, Windows, and Mac OS.

Some of its features include support for ZFS v5000, software RAID (0,1,5), disk encryption, S.M.A.R.T / email reports, and more. It supports multiple network protocols, including CIFS/SMB (Samba), Active Directory Domain Controller (Samba), FTP, NFS, and RSYNC, among others.

12. Yunohost

Yunohost is a free and open-source lightweight, reliable, and secure self-hosting operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux. It simplifies server administration by providing a user-friendly web interface for managing your server.

It facilitates the management of user accounts (via LDAP) and domain names, supports the creation and restoration of backups, and includes a full email stack (Postfix, Dovecot, Rspamd, DKIM) and an instant messaging server. Additionally, it supports security tools such as yunohost-firewall and fail2ban, and manages SSL certificates.

13. Sandstorm

Sandstorm is an open-source self-host web-based productivity suite designed to run open-source web applications securely and easily on your private server or community-run servers.

It supports file storage and sharing with others using Davros, a chat app, a mailbox, a task and project management app, a document editing feature, and many others.

Each application installed in Sandstorm is containerized in its own secure sandbox, preventing unauthorized communication with the outside world. Importantly, Sandstorm supports a secure operation model, making it easy to comply with security, regulatory, and data privacy requirements.

It is designed for individuals, businesses, and developers.

14. Syncthing

Syncthing is an open-source, simple yet powerful, and portable private and secure continuous file synchronization tool that synchronizes files between two or more hosts in real-time. It is compatible with Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, FreeBSD, Solaris, and OpenBSD.

All communication via Syncthing is encrypted (secured using TLS), and every device is identified by a strong cryptographic certificate to ensure secure authentication. You can configure and monitor Syncthing operations through a powerful and responsive user interface (UI) accessible via a web browser.

15. FileCloud

FileCloud is a private and secure cloud storage service that supports file sharing, synchronization, backup, and remote access for home and business use. It operates on Linux, Windows, Mac, and all major mobile devices including iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Phone, and also works on Raspberry Pi.

It allows you to access and share files from your home computer. Business users can use it to organize, search, share, synchronize, back up, and govern enterprise documents for employees, customers, and clients. Additionally, it supports ultra-fast, high-performance media organization and access from anywhere.

16. Cloud Storage Server

Cloud Storage Server is an open-source, secure, extensible, self-hosted cloud storage API for building your own private cloud storage solution. It is a self-contained tool that does not require a separate web server or enterprise database engine and is designed to integrate easily into your environment.

The underlying server software implements a complete file system similar to Amazon Cloud Drive and other providers. It supports file-based cloud storage operations such as folder hierarchy management, file upload/download, copies, moves, renames, trash and restores, delete, and more. It also features per-user quota management, per-user daily network transfer limits, and much more.

Conclusion

These are some well-known open-source cloud storage and synchronization software solutions that have either gained significant popularity over the years or have recently entered and made an impact in the industry with a promising future. If you or your organization use any other software, please share it with us, and we will include it in this list.

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