Today's Deep-Dive: Cubby

Hey everyone and welcome back. Today we're doing a deep dive on Cubby, a self-hosted

file sharing platform. Huge thanks to SaveServer for sponsoring this deep dive. If

self-hosting

piques your interest, they can help make it a reality for you. You can check them

out

at www.saveserver.de. But back to Cubby. It's basically like having your own

personal drop

box, or like Google Drive, but the main difference is you're not relying on those

huge companies.

With us to help break it all down is our resident expert when it comes to file

sharing. And

especially this whole self-hosting thing. Glad to be here. Yeah, it is really

interesting

to see more and more people wanting to take control of their data. So first, let's

start

simple. What exactly is Cubby? I totally get the file sharing part, but this whole

self-hosted

thing might be new to some people. Okay, so imagine your files live in a house. If

you

are using Dropbox or Google Drive, you're basically renting a room in their house.

You

have to play by their rules. But Cubby, Cubby is different. Cubby lets you build

the entire

house on your own WN land. You decide who has keys, what goes where. It is all

about

having that control. Okay. I like that analogy. So I am starting to get why people

like it,

but building a house sounds kind of hard. This is only for like tech super geniuses.

No, not at all. You don't have to be an architect to choose a house plan that's

already designed,

right? Cubby basically comes with instructions and there's tons of support out

there. Like

even from companies similar to our sponsor, Safe Server. Right. That makes sense.

Okay.

So we kind of get it now. Yeah. You build your own house for your data, but what

makes Cubby's

house special? Like what features are we talking here? Well, one of the coolest

things is how

you can share stuff with Cubby. You can give different people access to different

rooms.

Like think of it as separate folders for different projects. And you can even all

work on documents

together at the same time. Like if you were passing a notepad back and forth, but

digitally.

Ooh, now that is actually super useful. No more emailing files back and forth or

trying

to figure out who has the latest version. Ugh. Does this thing work with like the

normal

office stuff like Word docs and Excel and things like that? Oh yeah, for sure. It

integrates

with these open source office suites like Colabra online and only office. Think of

them

as like the tool shed in your Cubby house. And if you're someone that really likes

Markdown,

there's even a real time collaborative editor that's built right in there. Wow.

Okay. So

we were talking file sharing, collaborative editing, and it even has a built in

tool shed.

This Cubby house is sounding pretty awesome, but let's get back to the foundation

of it

all. Self-hosting. Can you break down like the real benefits for someone who maybe

isn't

like a data security expert? Okay. Well imagine this, you have this diary and it is

full of

your most personal thoughts. Would you rather keep that diary in your own like

locked drawer

or would you hand it over to some company to store and just hope they keep it safe?

Uh, yeah, that's an easy one. Definitely the locked drawers. Like having that peace

of

mind, you know, knowing that your sensitive stuff stays private. Exactly. And that

is

the whole point of cubby. Your files are only on your server, which is totally

controlled

by you. It's basically like knowing exactly where your diary is all the time. Yeah.

I

can see why that would be appealing to people, but I'm guessing there are probably

some downsides

too, right? Of course there are always trade-offs. It's like owning a house. You

are responsible

for all of the maintenance. You need to make sure that the software is up to date

and you

need to back up all of your data just in case something goes wrong. Okay, so maybe

not for

the totally completely non-technical person, but the trade-off seems worth it for

the amount

of control that you get. Yeah. Now who is behind this whole Cubby project? Is this

some

giant corporation or is it more of a community kind of thing? It's actually mostly

developed

by the Cloudrin team. They're really focused on making this whole self-hosting

thing easier

and they actually made Cubby open source, which is cool. That means that anybody

can

look at the code, they can tinker with it, or even contribute to making it better.

That's

really neat. So it's built with transparency and community involvement from the get-go.

But let's say someone wants to actually set up Cubby. What does that look like? We

talked

about building a house, but like what are the actual construction steps involved?

So

you'll need a server first, which might sound intimidating, but just think of it as

the

plot of land where your Cubby house will be built. You have a lot of options, even

renting

space in a data center. And then there's something called Docker, which is like

hiring a whole

construction crew. But this crew speaks a language that computers understand. They'll

build your house based on a blueprint that's provided by Cubby.

Okay. So it does require a little bit of technical knowledge, but it sounds like

there are tools

and frameworks in place to make it less intimidating. Plus you've got the whole

open source community

and companies like Safe Server to help. So now I'm curious, who do you think would

benefit

the most from Cubby? Is this for everyone or are there certain types of people or

organizations

who should be rushing to download this right now?

It's really perfect for anyone who cares about privacy and having control over

their own

data. Small teams can use it to collaborate securely. Individuals can use it as

like their

own personal cloud without having to rely on all of those big tech companies. Even

organizations

that deal with super sensitive data can benefit. They know that all of their info

is basically

under their own roof, metaphorically speaking.

I see. So it is really all about empowering people to choose where their data lives.

But

instead of just listing off features, let's get a little more practical here.

Yeah, sounds good.

Imagine you are a small team of freelance designers and they're working on a big

project

for a client. How would Cubby fit into their workflow?

Well, instead of emailing these huge design files back and forth, they could just

all

work together in a shared Cubby folder. Each designer could have their own space

for their

own personal files. But for the actual project, they would all be working in the

same room,

digitally speaking, of course.

That makes a lot of sense. So no more trying to dig through emails to find the

latest version

of the logo or worrying about file size limits. That has to be a huge time saver.

Right. And get this, because Cubby integrates with those office suites that we

talked about.

They could actually work on the same design file at the same time, and they would

see

each other's changes live, in real time. No more of that final underscore v2

underscore

final underscore actually final dot PSD file chaos.

Oh my gosh. I know exactly what you're talking about. Now that is some seriously

good collaboration.

It's almost like they're all huddled around the same computer, even if they're

miles apart.

But what about someone who's not on a team? Like maybe a researcher that has these

massive

data sets that they need to share securely.

Cubby's perfect for that too. It's basically like having a super high security

vault for

all of their data. The researcher gets to decide who has access and who doesn't.

And since

you can control where your Cubby server actually IS, researchers could even meet

data residency

requirements for super sensitive projects.

Okay, so it is not just about convenience then. It is also about meeting all of

those

real world compliance and security requirements. I'm definitely starting to see why

this whole

self hosting thing is getting so popular.

Yeah, it really is all about taking control, just like choosing where you want to

live

instead of being stuck in a generic apartment building. But like we were talking

about before,

owning a house means you have to do maintenance. Does that scare people off when it

comes to

self hosting?

It can, for sure. But you mentioned all of these support systems earlier. What

would

you say to someone who is like on the fence about it all? Because they are worried

about

the technical side of things.

First, remember those pre-designed house plans we were talking about? Well, setting

up Cubby

is not like building something from scratch. Plus, there is this whole community of

people

who have already done it. They are always sharing tips and tricks and helping each

other out.

It's like having those friendly neighbors who can always lend a helping hand, you

know?

Right. And don't forget about companies like our sponsor, Safe Server. They can

handle

a lot of the technical stuff for you. Kind of like hiring a contractor to manage

the

whole build. So you're never really alone, even if you're not a tech expert.

Exactly. That's the main point. You have choices. It's not about being some sort of

lone wolf

battling all of the scary technical demons. It's about having choices that align

with

your values.

I really like that empowerment. But let's go back to that researcher for a minute.

They've

got their secure data vault set up. But what if they need to analyze all of that

data with

colleagues at other institutions?

Well, that's where Cubby's built-in viewers are really helpful. They can just

preview

all kinds of different file types right there in Cubby. They don't have to download

huge

data sets every time. It's like being able to look through a window into that vault

to

see what's inside before you decide to take anything out.

So it really speeds up the research process by making those downloads unnecessary.

But

what about keeping track of all the different versions of a data set as the

research changes

and evolves?

Yeah, Cubby has that covered too, no worries. It's like having this detailed log

book for

your vault. It shows every single change that's made to every file. So there's no

more confusion

about which version is the most up to date.

So Cubby helps those researchers to collaborate efficiently, A&D securely. What

about for

individuals? Like people just looking for a secure way to back up their data?

Cubby is awesome for that. It's like having a super strong fireproof safe. For all

of

your precious digital valuables, photos, videos, important documents, all stored

securely under

your control. You just don't get that same peace of mind with those free cloud

services

out there.

It's like choosing a bank with those super high security vaults instead of just

stuffing

all of your money under your mattress. But this brings up an interesting point. We've

talked a lot about the security of Cubby, but it also has all of these

collaboration

features. How does that actually work in like a regular work environment?

Okay, so let's say we have a marketing team using Cubby. They could brainstorm all

of

their ideas, create content, design visuals, all within the platform. It's like

having

a virtual office where everyone's always working together, even if they're not

physically

in the same location.

So no more emailing drafts back and forth or trying to figure out which version of

a

file is the latest. It just streamlines everything.

Exactly. And they can work on the same document at the same time, see each other's

changes

in real time with that collaborative editing feature. It can really change the game

when

it comes to productivity and creativity.

Yeah, it's like having a virtual whiteboard where everybody can just brainstorm

together

no matter where they are.

Okay, we've talked a lot about the what of Cubby, but what about the why? What does

Cubby

represent in this like bigger picture of technology and data?

So the cool thing is that Cubby is part of this movement toward digital sovereignty.

It's about taking back control of your data and your whole digital life.

It's like saying, hey, my data is my house, and I get to decide who enters and what

happens

inside.

Exactly. In a world where our data is constantly being collected and analyzed, this

option

to self-host our own services gives us a sense of agency and ownership.

I can see how that would be empowering for people. But we would be doing a disservice

if we didn't acknowledge that this isn't for everyone. It does take a bit of

technical

know-how and definitely some commitment.

Yeah, that's true. It's not just clicking an easy button. But it's Syus clicking

that

take control button. And like we said before, there's a lot of support out there to

help

make the whole process a lot smoother.

Very well said. But before we wrap up this deep dive on Cubby, let's get a little

bit

more technical here.

Sounds good to me.

For those of you out there who are ready to peek behind the curtain, what can you

tell

us about Cubby's architecture and the technology that it's all built on?

Well, Cubby's built on a pretty modern tech stack. You can think of it as like the

building

materials for your digital house. So it uses node.js for the back end, which is

sort of

like the plumbing and the electrical systems. And then it uses view.js for the

front end,

which is the part that you actually see and interact with, like the walls and

furniture

and everything.

So it is using these popular and established technologies, which is good news for

anyone

who wants to tinker around with the code or maybe customize things.

Definitely. And remember that construction crew we were talking about earlier?

Docker.

It makes deploying Kubby super flexible. You can build your house on all kinds of

different

plots of land from a tiny little Raspberry Pi server all the way up to a massive

cloud

platform.

That's really cool. That's great for people who want to start small and scale up as

they

need to. But let's talk security. We are building this house for all of our

precious data. So

we want to make sure it's like Fort Knox level secure. What is Kubby doing to keep

everything

safe? So first off, all communication between your computer and the Kubby server is

encrypted

with HTTPS. Think of it as having this like secret tunnel between you and your

house so

no one can snoop on what you are carrying in or out. So even if someone is trying

to

peek through the windows, they can't see what's inside. Exactly. And to control who

gets in, Kubby uses something called OpenID Connect. Imagine it as the super high

tech

security system that integrates with your existing key cards like your Google

account

or your Microsoft account. You decide exactly who has access and what level of

permissions

they get. So it is secure by design, AD. It uses tools that people are already

familiar

with. But let's get practical again for a second. We've got our blueprint, our

construction

crew and our fancy security system. What are the actual steps that we need to take

to build

this Kubby house? Okay, so first you're going to need to install Docker and Docker

Compose

on your server. These are basically the tools that your construction crew needs to

understand

the blueprint and get to work. And then you need to create a Postgresql database.

That's

basically the vault inside of your house where all of your data will actually live.

So the

database is like the strong box inside the secure house. Exactly. What's next? Next,

you're going to download Kubby's Docker Compose file. This is that super detailed

blueprint

we were talking about. It tells Docker exactly how to build your Kubby house, where

to put

the vault, how to hook up the security system, all of that. It's like handing the

construction

crew a step-by-step guide. So there's no room for error. Exactly. And then after

that, you

just run one command in your terminal and Docker takes over from there. It gathers

all the materials, assembles the entire structure, and voila, your Kubby server is

up and running.

Wow. Docker makes it sound almost too easy. I'm guessing there's still some setup

that

needs to be done once the server is library. Yeah. You'll need to do some initial

configuration,

you know, like setting up your administrator account, connecting your security

system,

customizing things, like the server's domain name. Think of it as putting those

finishing touches on

your house, painting the walls, picking out the furniture, and just making it feel

like home.

So it's not completely hands off, but it definitely seems manageable with a little

bit of technical

knowledge. Any final words of wisdom for anyone out there who is ready to embark on

their self-hosting journey with Kubby? I would say just start small and don't be

afraid to ask for

help. The Kubby community is super supportive, and there are a lot of resources out

there,

like our sponsor, Safe Server. They can help you through the whole process.

Remember, this is all

about taking back control and having choices. It's about building a digital world

that reflects what

you believe in. I love that. So well said. And on that note, we've reached the end

of our deep dive

into Kubby. We've gone through the features, the benefits, we even peeked under the

hood at the tech

that makes it all work. Hopefully you're feeling a little more empowered to explore

self-hosting and

see if Kubby is a good fit for you. Big thanks to our expert for sharing all of

their insights,

and of course to all of you for joining us. If you're ready to take back control of

your data,

head over to the Kubby website or check out Safe Server at www.safeserver.de for

some expert

help with self-hosting. Until next time, keep exploring, stay curious, and remember,

your data,

your rules. Oh yeah, for sure, it's perfect for that. It's basically like having

the super high

security vault for their data, and with the researcher deciding who has access,

right? Right,

and since you control where your Kubby server actually is, researchers could even

meet those

data residency requirements for like really sensitive projects. Oh wow, so it's not

even

just about convenience then, it's also about meeting those real-world compliance

and security

needs. Yeah, this whole self-hosting thing is really starting to make more and more

sense to

me now. It really is all about just like taking back that control, just like

choosing where you

live instead of being stuck in some like generic apartment complex, you know?

Totally. But uh,

just like with owning a house, a Kubby server needs maintenance, right? Yeah. Does

that scare

people off? It can, yeah. Yeah. But you were talking about all those support

systems earlier,

what would you say to someone who's kind of on the sense about this whole self-hosting

thing?

Because they are nervous about the technical side of it all. Well, first off, just

remember those

like pre-designed house plans we were talking about. Setting up Kubby isn't like

building a

house totally from scratch, you know? Plus there's this whole community of people

out there who've

already done it. They're all sharing their tips and helping each other out. It's

like having

those friendly neighbors, right? The kind that can always lend a hand with those

home improvement

projects. Yeah, exactly. And plus don't forget about companies like our sponsor,

Safe Server.

They can actually handle a lot of that technical heavy lifting for you. Oh yeah,

definitely. Kind

of like hiring a contractor, right? Yeah. To just manage the whole build. Exactly.

So you're never

really alone, even if you aren't like a tech expert or whatever. Exactly. That's

the whole point. You

have choices. It's not about being like a lone wolf and battling all the technical

demons by yourself.

It's about having choices that match like your values. I love that. It's about

empowerment. Yeah.

Okay. But let's get back to that researcher for a second. They've got their secure

data vault all

set up. But what if they need to analyze all of that data with their colleagues?

But their colleagues

are at a different institution. Oh, well that's where Cubby's built-in viewers are

really helpful.

They can basically just preview a ton of different file types right there in Cubby.

They don't have

to go through the whole process of downloading those huge data sets every single

time. It's like

having a window into the vault, right? You can see what's inside before you have to

like take

anything out. So it makes the whole research process a lot faster because you don't

have to

do all those unnecessary downloads. That's really neat. But what about keeping

track of all the

different versions of a data set as the research, you know, evolves and stuff? Oh,

Cubby's got that

covered too. No worries. It's like having this super detailed blog book for your

vault. It shows

every single change that's made to each file. So there's never any confusion about

which version

is the most up-to-date one. So Cubby helps those researchers to collaborate

efficiently A and D

securely. That's really awesome. What about just regular people though? People who

are just looking

for a secure way to back up their personal data? Oh yeah, even for personal use Cubby

is amazing.

It's like having this like fireproof safe but for all your digital valuables. Like

think about your

photos, videos, all those really important documents. They're all stored super

securely but under

your control. You just don't get that peace of mind with those free cloud services

that are out

there. Yeah it really is like you're choosing a bank that has those super high

security vaults

instead of stuffing all your cash under your mattress at home. But this brings up

something

interesting. We've talked a lot about the security features of Cubby but it also

has all of these

really cool collaboration features too. So how does that actually play out in a

work environment?

Okay so let's say we have a marketing team that's using Cubby. They could like

brainstorm all their

ideas, create all their content, design their visuals all within the platform. You

know it's

basically like having a virtual office space where everybody is always working

together even if they

aren't all in the same physical location. Yeah so no more emailing those drafts

back and forth

or trying to figure out who has that latest version of the file which is always the

worst.

So it just streamlines everything right? Exactly and with that real-time

collaborative editing

feature they can literally work on the same document at the same time see each

other's

changes as they are happening live. It's a game changer when it comes to being

productive and

creative. It really is. Yeah it's like having a virtual whiteboard where everybody

can brainstorm

together no matter where they actually are. Okay so we've talked a lot about the

what's of cubby

but what about the why? Like what does cubby actually represent in the bigger

picture of

technology you know? Well what's really cool is that cubby is part of this movement

toward what

a lot of people are calling digital sovereignty. Oh it's interesting. Yeah it's all

about like

individuals and organizations taking back control of their data and their digital

lives. So it's

like saying my data is my house and I'm the only one who gets to decide who comes

in and what

happens inside. Exactly like in today's world our data is constantly being

collected and analyzed

and sold. So this whole idea of self-hosting our own services, it gives us this

sense of agency

right and like a sense of ownership. Right and control over our own stuff. Yeah I

can see how

that would be really empowering for a lot of people but we would be remiss if we

didn't

acknowledge that self-hosting isn't really for everyone. It does require some

technical knowledge

for sure and some commitment. Yeah that's true. It's not just about clicking that

easy button

but it is about clicking the take control button you know and as we said there's a

lot of support

out there and resources that can help to make that journey a lot smoother. That's a

really good point

well said. But before we completely wrap up this deep dive into cubby let's get a

little more

technical for a minute. Okay sounds good. For those of you out there who are ready

to like

peek behind the curtain a little bit what can you tell us about cubby's

architecture and like the

technology that it runs on and everything. Well cubby's built on a it's built on a

pretty modern

tech stack you know kind of like we were saying before the building materials for

your digital

house it uses no js for the back end think of that as like the plumbing and all the

electrical

systems right and then it uses view dies for the front end that's like all the

stuff you actually

see and interact with the walls the furniture all of that. So it's using these like

popular

technologies right well established ones at least that's good news for anyone who

wants to

you know maybe tinker around with the code themselves or customize things to fit

their needs

for sure and remember that construction crew we talked about way back when docker

well it actually

makes deploying cubby super flexible you can build your house in all different

kinds of land

from a tiny raspberry pi server to like a massive cloud platform you know that's

amazing

so people can really start small if they want to and then they can scale up as they

need to

okay but let's get back to security for a second we're building this house for all

of our important

data we want to make sure it's like fort Knox level secure what is cubby doing to

keep everything

safe so first of all all communication between your computer and the cubby server

it's all

encrypted using HTTPS of course it's like imagine there's this secret tunnel

between you and your

house no one can snoop on what you're taking in or out oh i like that so even if

someone's trying

to like peek through the windows or something can't actually see what's inside

exactly and for

controlling who actually gets in cubby uses something called open id connect think

of that

as like a super high tech security system that integrates with like your existing

key cards like

let's say you use your google account to log into things or your microsoft account

that kind of

thing so you decide exactly who has access and what level of permissions they get

so it's secure

by design any it integrates with tools that people are already using very cool okay

so we've got the

blueprint we've got our construction crew and our high tech security system in

place now what are

the actual steps for building this cubby house i mean okay so the first thing you

need to do is

install docker and docker compose on your server those are like the tools that your

construction

crew needs to understand the blueprint you know yeah to get to work and then after

that you need

to create a post-graswell database which is kind of like the vault inside of your

house is where all

of your data is actually going to live okay so the database is like the strong box

exactly but

it's inside the secure house that makes a lot of sense what's next then you

download cubbies docker

compose file which is basically that detailed blueprint we keep talking about this

tells docker

exactly how to build your cubby house where to put the vault how to connect the

security system all

the nitty-gritty details so it's like handing the construction crew a step-by-step

guide so there's

zero room for error right and then after all of that is done you literally just run

one command

in your terminal and docker does all the magic from there gathers all the materials

assembles

the structure and then boom your cubby server is up and running wow docker really

does make it sound

pretty easy but i'm assuming there's still some setup that needs to be done once

the server is

actually live right oh yeah you'll need to do some initial configuration like

setting up your

administrator account and connecting that security system we talked about and

customizing things like

the server's domain name it's like adding the final touches to your house you know

painting the

walls picking out furniture and just making it feel like yours so it's not entirely

hands-off

but it seems doable especially if you've got like a little bit of technical

experience any final

words of wisdom for anyone out there who's ready to start their own self-hosting

journey with cubby

hmm i would say start small and don't be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck

the cubby community

is super supportive and plus there are a lot of resources out there like our

sponsor safe server

they can guide you through the whole process and just remember this is all about

taking back control

of your stuff and having more choices building a digital world that actually aligns

with your

values wow that's a really beautiful way to put it well said so on that note we've

reached the end

of our deep dive into cubby we've talked about the features the benefits we even

got a little

technical and peeped under the hood and all the technology that makes it work so

hopefully you're

feeling a little bit more empowered to explore self-hosting for yourselves and see

if cubby is

the right fit huge thanks to our expert for joining us and sharing all of their

insights

and of course a big thank you to all of you for listening if you are ready to take

back control

of your data you can head over to the cubby website or check out save server at www.saveserver.de

for some expert help with self-hosting until next time stay curious keep exploring

data your rules

data your rules