{"id":305,"date":"2017-12-29T14:18:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T14:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bootstrap-it.com\/blog\/?p=305"},"modified":"2017-12-29T14:20:09","modified_gmt":"2017-12-29T14:20:09","slug":"aws-s3-based-enterprise-network-file-sharing-using-nextcloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bootstrap-it.com\/blog\/?p=305","title":{"rendered":"AWS S3-based enterprise network file sharing using Nextcloud"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article is excerpted from my Manning book,\u00a0<\/em>Linux in Action<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nextcloud is an open source software suite that, when installed on a Linux server, can leverage storage capacity for saving, editing, and consuming a wide range of document types\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding services like audio\/video call hosting. Nextcloud also provides _client_ applications that allow users on Linux, Windows, MacOS, and smart phone platforms to engage with media resources.<\/p>\n

Using Nextcloud, you can create your own private versions of Dropbox or Google Drive, but on your terms and without having to worry about unexpected changes to availability or service\/privacy agreements.<\/p>\n

So great. Nextcloud has some real benefits. But going it alone means you\u2019re on the hook for the costs and complexity of data hosting, replication, and backups. Is it really worth all the trouble and expense when you can get lots of storage at little or no cost using any one of those other services?<\/p>\n

Good news: you can have it both ways. For particularly sensitive data, you can keep the whole thing in-house. But you can also build a Nextcloud server as your front end (to finely control how users interface with your media), but have the data itself automatically and securely saved to cheaper, reliable third party services including Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon\u2019s S3. If, down the line, you find you need to migrate your data away from a third-party provider like S3, you can do it without your users ever noticing the change.<\/p>\n

Hardware prerequisites<\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s put something together using Ubuntu.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always a good idea to check out an application\u2019s documentation to make sure that you\u2019ve got enough hardware and software muscle to handle the load. The figure below shows Nextcloud\u2019s System Requirements web page. If you\u2019re planning to host a simple, lightly-used server providing for just a few dozen users, then you\u2019ll find Nextcloud is a fairly easy to get along with, demanding nothing that can\u2019t be handled by an off-the-shelf container.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hardware and software requirements for both recommended and minimal Nextcloud installations<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Any old minimal hardware configuration will work just fine for technology testing, but I wouldn\u2019t want to rely on a single LXC container running off an old PC to serve tens of thousands of users and terabytes of data. Planning an enterprise-scale deployment? Nextcloud\u00a0provides a useful, multi-level Deployment Recommendations guide<\/a>\u00a0to provisioning full-strength platforms.<\/p>\n

Here, for instance, is what Nextcloud recommends for a smaller work group with up to 150 users accessing up to 10TB of data:<\/p>\n