
Show HN: S3io.com – using Amazon S3 for personal storage - iliaznk
https://www.s3io.com
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drunkenazi
[http://i.imgur.com/2rk7uhU.png](http://i.imgur.com/2rk7uhU.png)

y u do dis? Does S3 not also have the ability to store complex data bits like
filenames? Is the server open source? Will the client work without the server?
What if your server actually keeps a transaction log along with my IP and
other identifying information (seems like logging in would make this readily
available). WHAT IF YOU ONLY LOVE ME TO HARVEST MY METADATA?!

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iliaznk
The server is not open source yet, but it probably will be. The client will
not work without the server because the server signs all requests to S3 and
otherwise I'll have to expose S3 credentials on the client side.

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nstart
Previous discussion if it's useful for anyone :
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11654155](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11654155)

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iliaznk
Hello, HN!

I’ve been using Amazon S3 to store family photos and some other stuff for
quite a while, but, as you know, the web interface Amazon offers is not very
user-friendly and provides no way to share files except by public links to
individual files. Another thing I’ve always wanted was a place to store
miscellaneous snippets and notes not relying on any services that keep my data
locked-in in their databases. So I decided to combine the two and built S3io.

S3io is a web-interface app for Amazon S3 buckets (not for all of them,
unfortunately, buckets in Frankfurt or buckets with dots in their name will
not work for now) that will turn your bucket into a file sharing and note-
taking tool. It allows you to post notes (saved as JSON files in your bucket)
and upload files directly from the browser while the app server only stores
metadata and knows nothing else about your files and notes. It also lets you
view uploaded photos in a slideshow kind of a gallery and share your notes,
individual files or entire folders.

If you use Amazon S3 for personal storage, you could find S3io useful. It is
still an early beta and has not been extensively tested by anyone else except
me, so browser support is limited to the latest Chrome for now, although it
seems to work fine in Opera and Chromium, not that good in Safari. The
situation will get better in the future. If you are interested in testing or
using something like that, please sign up for invitation.

Would like your feedback. Thanks!

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jayfk
Just curious: why isn't frankfurt supported?

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paulddraper
Frankfurt allows only signature v4. That version of the signature required
including the region, something that v2 did not do.

S3 allows people to essentially ignore the region by using domain style
buckets. Except not anymore with v4.

It's a common gotcha.

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iliaznk
You're right. But with S3io most of the action happens on the client side and
it does work with sig. v4 which provides better integrity checking for large
files, the problem with Frankfurt is not very big, it's just that I can't
automatically detect the region by the bucket name on the back end. But it
should be fixable.

~~~
paulddraper
> it's just that I can't automatically detect the region by the bucket name on
> the back end

exactly.

> But it should be fixable.

yep.

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kayman
Great tool. I had a similar idea a while back to build a frontend webapp to
store my receipts on S3 or Backblaze.

It works like any receipt app, except the webapp is just a UI for
S3/Backblaze.

As opposed to dropbox or google drive, you pay S3 directly for what you use
and you own your own data. That way if the webapp goes defunct, you still are
the owner to all your data in raw s3 bucket form.

I wanted it to replace my shoebox at home for sensitive data (warranties, gym
memberships, utility bills) I don't feel comfortable putting on dropbox or
google drive type app.

10 years from now, I don't know if dropbox or google drive will be around. I
feel much more comfortable relying on a backend service like S3 than dropbox
or google drive.

~~~
iliaznk
> It works like any receipt app, except the webapp is just a UI for
> S3/Backblaze.

That's exactly what S3io is doing!

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kayman
Love the project. Congratulations on shipping. An itch/problem I've been
looking to solve or be solved.

I'd love to be able to host it myself as well. Hope you opensource it. If
anything for me to geek on with other features. :)

~~~
iliaznk
Thank you! I will opensource for sure and post about it here on HN, stay tuned
:)

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dgreensp
I've come back to this idea many times, and I think it has a lot of promise.
It's all a question of the user experience and the feature set (or making it
open and hackable). Cloud storage is a cheap commodity (at least for geeks,
who know how to buy it "wholesale") and people will want ownership of their
data.

Actually, I don't know what it's all a question of, but in 2016 we have these
amazing services and tech stacks for shuttling bits and building UI, and yet I
still use the Finder and the command-line and wait for Dropbox to sync my
photos and videos. Something's gotta give.

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iliaznk
Hey, guys! Thank you all very much for your feedback! I'm starting to send out
invitations. Please feel free to contact me over email you can find on the web
site if you have any questions or problems.

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HappyTypist
Does this tool support end to end encryption?

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iliaznk
No. But as I said before, most of the action happens on the client side and it
should be easy to add some encryption to the mix.

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markism
Why not use Backblaze B2? It's much cheaper than S3.

~~~
iliaznk
Yes, it's cheaper, but B2 doesn't allow uploading files larger than 100mb from
the browser, you have to use their CLI tool for that. I don't think their web
API supports that.

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engizeer
Is this open source?

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iliaznk
Not yet. But I think it will be.

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jtme
been waiting for something like this for a long time, submitted for invite,
cant wait to test

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kelukelugames
Does this work with glacier?

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iliaznk
Not yet.

