Edward Rudd calls in and Jacob West stops by our studios to discuss alternatives to popular cloud-based services like Dropbox. Listen to us discuss the pros and cons to doing it yourself. We list some of the software that’s out there that will allow you to setup your very own service for personal use.

Show notes

Why roll your own?
- Privacy
- Storage
- Total control
- http://zenhabits.net/google-free/
Pros/cons of “Rolling your own {INSERT SERVICE HERE}”?
- Good option for young kids
- Cons
  - 1. A dedicated server just for Zimbra with Domain Keys installed
  - 2. A block of 24-32 ip numbers. (49 ip numbers would be ideal, but it’s harder to buy odd blocks like that.) Put your mail server as close to the middle of that range as possible. It sounds like a lot, but most collocation facilities can hook you up with this for 300-500 usd a month.
  - 3. Proactive attention to getting your ip block removed from all spam lists (especially Barracuda, their list is the most annoying for the high number of false positives) before the fact. Just let them know you exist.
  - 4. Pray that all of the hundreds of moving pieces you’ve just put in place don’t break, that bad hackers don’t brute force their way into your server. Strong passwords don’t really help as much as people tell you they do either. That’s now something you have to worry about too.
Where to host?
- Linode
- Slicehost
- “Your house” (Business grade internet options)
Dropbox Alternatives
- Owncloud (http://owncloud.org) - Dropbox Alternative + Calendar + Contacts + plugins
- AeroFS - http://aerofs.com - Dropbox Alternative without a central server
- Rsync
- SparkleShare - http://sparkleshare.org/ - just clients and uses git on the server
GMail Alternatives
- qmail, Postfix, Sendmail
- Horde, IMP, Squirrel Mail, Roundcube
- http://www.turnkeylinux.org/zimbra
- Spam filter?
  - Amavisd (runs spamassassin + virus scanning as a pluggable mail filter)
  - hosted service
- http://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/08/07/1533224/ask-slashdot-self-hosted-gmail-alternatives
Google Docs Alternatives
- http://www.fengoffice.com/web/pricing.php
- http://etherpad.org/
- http://onedrum.com/
  - Bought by Yammer and integrated with it now
- ANY Self-hosted WIKI !!!
Flickr Alternatives
- http://www.zenphoto.org/
- http://gallery.menalto.com/
YouTube Alternatives
Google Voice Alternatives
- http://www.twilio.com/api/openvbx
Full Backup Solutions?
- Backblaze
- Carbonite
- rsync.net
- LOCAL BACKUP DEVICE! and the Shoe leather express to a remote location!!
Security?
- selinux, disable password login on SSH