Selecting a Cloud Storage Provider

or: How to Choose Between Seventeen Flavours of Vanilla

Everything seems to be ‘in the cloud’ these days, and why not? There’s a lot of great convenience in cloud-hosted platforms. When I think of ‘the cloud’, I picture having my email, calendar, contacts, notes, and files available from anywhere. Hosted securely and accessible on any device I choose. That’s the cloud I’m talking about today.

There are plenty of options for these services: Dropbox and Box.com for files, or the big players like Outlook.com, Gmail.com, and iCloud.com for the full suite. Personally, I’m drawn to self-hosting for several reasons. First: ownership. I retain complete control over what I upload and who can access it. Second: privacy. With growing concerns about AI training on user data, government surveillance, and corporate data mining, keeping your data under your own roof matters more than ever.

NextCloud

This is where I’ve landed, and it’s been solid. NextCloud (the successor to OwnCloud) has matured beautifully since the early days. Installation is straightforward. Many hosts offer one-click deployment, and if you’re technically inclined, Docker makes it even easier.

What really sold me on NextCloud is its S3-compatible storage integration. Instead of eating up your server’s disk space, you can offload files to external object storage. I’m using EasyBackup E3 (e3.eazybackup.com), a Canadian S3-compatible provider at just $9/month CAD for 1TB, with pay-as-you-grow pricing beyond that. Keeping my data in Canada means it falls under Canadian privacy laws, which is a nice bonus. NextCloud treats this external storage as seamlessly as local storage, and the performance is excellent.

The mobile apps (iOS and Android) sync perfectly with CalDAV and CardDAV. No wrestling with configs like in the old days. You get files, contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, and even Talk (video calling) if you want it. Full control, full ownership, Canadian data residency if you choose it.

Sync.com

Worth a special mention: if you want cloud storage with strong privacy but don’t want to self-host, Sync.com is a Canadian company that offers zero-knowledge encryption. They literally can’t access your files even if compelled to. Your data stays in Canada, subject to Canadian privacy laws rather than foreign jurisdictions. It’s more expensive than Dropbox (around $8 USD/month for 2TB), but you’re paying for genuine privacy and Canadian data sovereignty. No calendar or contacts sync, but for pure file storage with actual privacy guarantees, it’s hard to beat.

Dropbox / Box.com

Still solid options if you only need file storage and sharing. Box has carved out a niche in enterprise, while Dropbox remains the go-to for simple personal file sync. Neither offers the full ecosystem (calendar, contacts, email) that NextCloud or the big three provide. Both are US-based with standard privacy policies. Your files aren’t encrypted in a way that prevents them from accessing the contents.

Microsoft OneDrive + Outlook & Google Drive + Gmail

Both are feature-rich, polished, and free. Microsoft’s ecosystem has come a long way. Their web interfaces are sleek, and if you’re already in the Microsoft 365 world, it all just works. Google’s integration across services remains unmatched: search your Gmail from Drive, collaborate in real-time, etc.

Free?

Yeah. That’s what bothers me.

If you’ve ever read Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, you’ll know the word TANSTAAFL: “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” In 2025, if they’re not charging you for the product, there’s a good chance you are the product. Google’s business model hasn’t changed. They mine your emails, searches, documents, and photos to build advertising profiles and train AI models. Microsoft is heading the same direction, feeding Office and Outlook data into Copilot training.

It wasn’t until I really thought about this that I realized how much it bothered me. My private correspondence, my files, my patterns being data points in someone else’s ML pipeline.

iCloud

Apple’s privacy stance is legitimately better than Google or Microsoft’s. They position themselves as the privacy-focused option (and to their credit, they’ve fought some important legal battles over encryption). If you’re already in the Apple ecosystem, iCloud just works. Painfully easy, actually, which both delights and slightly frustrates the geek in me who likes to tinker.

The catch? You’ve already paid for it in the premium price of your Apple devices. It’s a value-added service that creates lock-in. No ads, no data mining for AI training (they claim), just smooth integration that makes you want to buy more Apple products.

I respect the model, but I’m not fully in the Apple garden anymore.

Where I’ve Landed

NextCloud + EasyBackup E3 gives me everything I need: full ownership, Canadian data residency, S3-backed scalability, and no one peeking at my data to train the next ChatGPT. Setup took an evening. Monthly cost is reasonable. Peace of mind is priceless.

What about you? What cloud setup are you using in 2025, and what made you choose it?