How can I set up Nextcloud External Storage?

With Nextcloud’s External Storage support, you can easily integrate external storage sources into your own Nextcloud en­vir­on­ment. This gives you extra space for your files, greater flex­ib­il­ity, and improved col­lab­or­a­tion across teams. Adding external storage to Nextcloud takes just a few minutes, although it does require careful con­fig­ur­a­tion.

What is Nextcloud External Storage?

Nextcloud External Storage allows you to connect external storage sources to your Nextcloud instance. By using the ap­pro­pri­ate app, you can create a link between the cloud software and external systems, making data from multiple sources centrally ac­cess­ible in Nextcloud.

These storage sources can not only be in­teg­rated but also cus­tom­ised to suit your specific needs. For example, you might use them to include personal backups or to syn­chron­ise business data. And because everything is managed through the familiar Nextcloud interface, it remains simple and intuitive to use.

Which external storage solutions does Nextcloud support?

Nextcloud External Storage supports a wide variety of popular storage solutions that can be in­teg­rated into your cloud en­vir­on­ment, whether for personal or pro­fes­sion­al use. These include the following storage backends, among others:

• Amazon S3
• FTP/FTPS
• Local
• OpenStack Object Storage
• SFTP
• SMB/CIFS
• WebDAV

In addition to the of­fi­cially supported storage solutions, the Nextcloud App Store also also offers apps for other services such as OneDrive and Dropbox. These Nextcloud apps are often developed by third-party teams and may be based on older versions of the software. Outdated apps can introduce security vul­ner­ab­il­it­ies or lead to com­pat­ib­il­ity problems. If you still want to try one of these apps, it’s best to test it in a separate en­vir­on­ment and create a backup in advance.

When does it make sense to add external storage to Nextcloud?

Whether it makes sense to add external storage to your Nextcloud setup largely depends on how you intend to use it. There are several scenarios where in­teg­rat­ing external storage can be par­tic­u­larly be­ne­fi­cial:

• Need for more storage: If your Nextcloud instance has limited storage capacity, using external storage is a cost-effective way to increase space.

• Cent­ral­ised data man­age­ment: External storage allows you to bring multiple data sources together within a single interface. This is es­pe­cially useful for teams and or­gan­isa­tions that rely on several different storage platforms. If you already use services like FTP servers or Google Drive, these can be in­teg­rated without the need to change your existing setup.

• Flexible storage needs: External storage provides a simple way to scale your storage capacity. This makes it a sensible option for users and or­gan­isa­tions handling in­creas­ing amounts of data volumes or with evolving needs. For instance, Nextcloud allows you to add external storage dy­nam­ic­ally as your demands grow.

Despite this, there are a few potential drawbacks and lim­it­a­tions to bear in mind. External storage can sometimes impact per­form­ance, as Nextcloud scans the current directory for changes every time a page is loaded. In addition, con­fig­ur­ing and managing external storage requires a certain level of technical expertise, and mistakes in con­fig­ur­a­tion can affect both stability and security.

How to configure external storage in Nextcloud

The following step-by-step guide shows you how to add external storage to Nextcloud using the built-in External Storage Support app:

1. Log in to your Nextcloud instance, using an account with ad­min­is­trat­ive priv­ileges.

2. To set up external storage in Nextcloud, you’ll need the ‘External Storage Support’ app. You can activate it from the Nextcloud App Store by clicking the cor­res­pond­ing button.

Close

3. Once the app has been activated, click the profile icon in the top-right corner and select ‘Ad­min­is­tra­tion settings’ from the dropdown menu.

4. In the ad­min­is­tra­tion panel, click on ‘External storage’, then select ‘Add storage’. From there, choose the type of external storage you’d like to add.

Close

5. Fill in the con­fig­ur­a­tion fields with the necessary in­form­a­tion, such as host address and password. The exact fields displayed will depend on the storage service you’ve selected. Required fields are high­lighted in red.

6. Once you’ve entered all the required details, the external storage will be auto­mat­ic­ally added to your cloud. If the setup is suc­cess­ful, you’ll see a green dot next to the storage. A yellow or red dot indicates a problem with the con­nec­tion. In that case, check the con­fig­ur­a­tion again, as there may be an error.