A Little Self-Hosted Drive: My Experiment (and Why You Might Find It Interesting)

So, I’ve been tinkering with a little project lately, and I wanted to share it with you. It’s basically a self-hosted alternative to Google Drive, and honestly, it started as a way for me to learn a bit more about web development and data storage. Don’t get too excited – it’s not going to change your life (yet!), but it’s a cool little thing I built, and I thought you might appreciate hearing about it.

The Idea Behind Personal Drive

It all started with frustration, to be honest. I was spending way too much time in the cloud, relying on big companies for my file storage. I wanted something more under my control, something I could actually see and understand. I’ve always enjoyed the idea of running my own server – it’s a bit like a puzzle, a challenge – and this felt like a perfect way to scratch that itch. The goal was simple: a web interface where I could upload, view, download, and delete files, all without relying on a third party. I used Laravel and React – technologies I’ve been playing around with – to bring it to life.

It’s Not a Google Drive Replacement (But…)

Let’s be clear: this isn’t going to replace Google Drive overnight. It’s a very basic implementation, and it’s more of a proof of concept than a polished product. But, it does offer a certain level of control and privacy. The demo is available here: https://demo.personaldrive.xyz/. You can sign up and start uploading files.

What I Built (And What’s in It)

• Web UI: A straightforward interface to upload, download, and delete files.
• File Management: Basic features for renaming and moving files.
• Markdown Support: I’ve added markdown support for file previews – pretty handy for text-based documents.
• Self-Hosted: You host it on your own server.

Why I Opened It Up

Initially, I hadn’t planned to open source it. It was mostly a learning exercise. But after seeing the feedback on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1je9zm9/), particularly the questions and suggestions, I thought it would be valuable to share the code. It’s a chance for others to learn from it, and, honestly, I’m a little nervous about putting something like this out there!

The Code is Available on GitHub

You can find the code on GitHub: https://github.com/gyaaniguy/personal-drive. Feel free to take a look, fork it, and contribute if you’d like.

A Little About the Tech

As I mentioned, I built this using Laravel and React. Laravel is a PHP framework that makes building web applications a bit easier, and React is a JavaScript library for creating user interfaces. It’s been a good experience learning how these technologies work together.

Thanks for Checking It Out

I really appreciate you taking the time to read about this. It’s been a fun project, and I’m always open to feedback. Let me know what you think!