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Storage Box or Storage VPS what do I need?
With Black Friday approaching I want be prepared for storage box / storage vps deals but I am not sure what I should be looking for - what are the differences?
- Ideally I want to backup data using SFTP protocol (S3 acceptable but prefer SFTP).
- It should be responsive whilst uploading but it will be used for probably less than 5 minutes per day after the initial upload.
- Minimum upload speed 20Mb/s (2MB/s)
- It should not require a domain to use
- Aiming for a decent deal hopefully 1TB at around $15/year (but flexible to $20/$25/year or paying extra if 2TB is the minimum for the correct deal or provider)
- Ideally EU servers but US fine if the price is right
I know my way around Linux but I am no full blown system administrator if a provider is asking you which operating system you want installing while you are purchasing do they usually have a guide on how to setup with appropriate security (eg best OS, fail2ban, key instead of password)?
Any pointers on what is expected of me and what tools are provided when you purchase a storage box / storage VPS? Is there a control panel I can just click and say I want SFTP protocol, uploads should be put in this directory and here are user name / password or ideally key to use?
Looking around for the past couple of months the following providers seem to be well respected am I on the right track?
@NetDynamics24 @crunchbits @PulsedMedia @DediRock (storage boxes/ VPS)
@systemfreaks (S3 only - I believe no SFTP support)
Thanks

Comments
Storage Box; Shared service, usually base software managed. (novice use)
Storage VPS; Like dedi, just linux box with plenty of storage. you will do everything yourself, and maintain everything yourself but do anything (advanced use)
Our storage boxes come with our renowned seedbox software stack, just the resources toggles switched for storage use. SFTP is the default data transfer method. rclone with webui is included too. SSH access for all the typical tools.
We offer the "Free as in beer" SB so you can just check how things work software wise etc https://pulsedmedia.com/free-seedbox.php
and here are our storage box options: https://pulsedmedia.com/storage-boxes.php
(just between us look for our 11.11 special, we might still post one in the next few hours ... )
If SFTP access and an easy UI are your main priorities, Iโd recommend checking out our Nextcloud-based cloud storage โ still available for $3/TB here:
๐ https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/205692/s3-compatible-object-storage-secure-cloud-storage-3-tb-eu-ca-6-tb-singapore#latest
For anything else, object storage is king ๐ โ available at $4/TB here:> ๐ https://www.systemfreaks.com/object-storage/
Vps is the most free to build itself.
@PulsedMedia thanks for the details and I really appreciate the detailed information you provide but I would be struggling to use 1TB so getting a 2TB package would be overkill but having to get a 4TB package is out of my limit.
@systemfreaks I had omitted your Nextcloud offering as not supporting SFTP. Can you just confirm that I can upload/download/delete any files using SFTP (and say Filezilla or other software which support SFTP) to my storage allocation if I go with Nextcloud option?
Thanks to all the providers who have posted in this thread and throughout LET.
This is why I'm voting storage box.
Our backup storage plans support SFTP, SSH, rsync and we also provide a control panel (Virtualmin).
Nextcloud offers their own client to upload files, you can also use rsynch, and webdav, unfortunatelly it doesnt work with sftp, but i find the nextcloud client better than filezilla
https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/latest/user_manual/en/desktop/index.html
You can check out @jfreak53 offer. $2 a month per tb its in Ohio USA though.
โBackup Storage
Full SSH jailed access to user dir; SFTP, FTP, rSync, Duplicity
Our backup servers run ZFS with up to 7 daily snapshots, we can custom configure this for more or less for each customer. Starting at 1TB, storage costs are $2/m per TB!!
World Class 10-gigabit Network with IPv6 Connectivity, No Usage/Seat Fees, No Egress Charges, No Contracts, fully unmetered in/out.
Order Backup Services hereโ
https://microtronixdc.com/products/backup-storage?mtm_campaign=LET&mtm_kwd=BAK&mtm_source=POST&mtm_medium=FORUM
Personal user of InterServer and their storage boxes. $8/m for 2TB https://www.interserver.net/storage/ I use rsync and sftp all day no problems.
If it is mission-critical data, a more reliable solution is to use a VPS with LUKS full-disk encryption, further secured by a zero-trust architecture or strict ACLs.
In a LET host's shared environment, it is crucial to account for the possibility of data breachs result from zero-day vulnerabilities exploitation, as well as the threat of ransomware attacks.
Think of it as extra buffer then
I agree, important data one should encrypt on any level of shared solution. Also have multiple copies.
You can also use GPG in-line to encrypt your files (ie. tar.gz etc.)