Owncloud Review: Pros and Cons of the Cloud Software

Are you looking for cloud software? In this article we would like to introduce you to Owncloud. It is a server software that has several clients at the same time, namely for Android, iOS and Windows. With this service, you can easily synchronise your files.

Nextcloud was developed as an offshoot of Owncloud.

Owncloud advantages & features

Of course, the first question that comes to mind when you think of software like this is what it can do. To answer this question, we would like to present you with a list of benefits and features:

• Free of charge

The basic version of Owncloud as well as the iOS app and Android app are free. Some app add-ons can be unlocked for an additional fee (e. g. a document scanner).  

• User-friendly layout

Both the apps and the web interface have an easy-to-use, modern design. This makes it easy to access files stored in the cloud.  

• Data synchronisation

Just like Dropbox, the Owncloud client on Windows allows you to specify a sync folder that will be synchronised with your Owncloud account. This means that if you change a file in this folder on your PC, the updated version will be uploaded to Owncloud and you can access it from anywhere.  

• User management

Owncloud allows you to create multiple users and assign storage to them. This makes it easy to turn Owncloud into a cloud for the whole family, without one user seeing the files of the others.  

• Access from anywhere

You can access your Owncloud from anywhere via the web interface, as long as you are connected to the Internet. For even more convenience, there are smartphone apps available.  

• Sharing

Not suitable for small web servers because of performance reasons, but theoretically possible: sharing. Make individual files available to selected users. They receive a URL by email, for example, and can view the file online.  

• Additional applications

If you need more functionality, you can take a look at the Owncloud apps. For example, you can keep a central calendar. You can also view photos or other documents (such as PDFs) directly in your browser. Additional plug-ins are now available to enable you to share documents and presentations in the browser.

Disadvantages of Owncloud

We do not want to keep you in the dark about the disadvantages of this solution:

• Performance

On smaller systems, the performance of Owncloud is not quite the best. File synchronisation and retrieval works, but the web interface in particular takes a long time to load content. We therefore recommend that you do not use the web interface in this case.  

• (Previous) Errors

Previous versions of Owncloud occasionally had major bugs. For example, thousands of conflict files were created because Owncloud could not decide which file to keep during synchronisation. Installation and update processes could also fail from time to time due to errors. Over time, however, Owncloud has become much more stable.

A team of former Owncloud developers has been working on an offshoot of Owncloud for a couple of years now: Nextcloud is designed to be more stable and thus fix one of Owncloud's weaknesses, its errors.

Impressions

To give you something to look at, we would like to show you another screenshot of the web interface (the layout has changed slightly).

Screenshot of the web interface: Here you can see the web interface of Owncloud. You can manage the files in your account, upload new files and delete existing ones. As an administrator, you also have access to many other settings, such as user management.

About the installation

Owncloud offers a lot of features, despite some minor performance issues. Synchronisation, sharing and user management are right out of the box, and Owncloud can be extended with apps. As a result, it can hold its own against the likes of Dropbox and is a solid alternative.

If you like this solution and want to install it on your own server or web space, installieren ust follow the Owncloud installation guide.

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