Several years ago I was excited about new technologies presented and implemented by Google. I tried nearly all publicly available application or service. Also, I was very positively surprised by first Google Android cellphone I have got in to my possession back in 2010.

However, my first smartphone was HTC TyTN which runs on Windows Mobile. This exact machine was required by company I worked for, because their specific application was able to work only with Windows Mobile environment. After I quit that job, I bought my first Android phone HTC Hero. It was astonishing to see and feel (because there was amazing trackball), how easy it is to control that gadget. And that amazing display!

At that time, slowly but unstoppably, mobile internet connection get more and more affordable. So, when I unlocked this gate for myself it was so exciting. I was really able to use all Google services everywhere (well yeah, at least where the signal was available). It was hell amazing, really WOW.

A few years past by. I learned some more information. I learned something more about how online world work. I become afraid about my personal data. Is it really necessary for Google and Facebook to know everything about me? Is it really beneficial for me to share my life with world and especially with all contacts, events, e-mails shared with those companies? Finally, I said NO. And I started to search alternatives. It was really tough time to search over internet with my english language skills I had that time. But, finally, I found several interresting projects as for example Syncthing, ownCloud and some more. Syncthing was simple and easy to use, so I installed it to my NAS to be able easily synchronise files among my computer, laptop, cellphone and NAS. But it did not solve contacts and calendar sync. OwnCloud could do that, but I did not want to have my computer still running. Cost of consumed electricity and constant noise of running computer made me not satisfied with that solution. Some more time past by and I found Nextcloud server, which looked very usefull for my needs. Moreover, I explored Raspberry device at the same time. Both events made me think about running my own, big tech company independent solution again. Nextcloud running on Raspberry device was not really fast, but it was just beginning. It was cheap, locally running solution. It means, I could sync all of my devices over my local network environment. It was an amazing leap in right direction. After some time I exposed my Nextcloud / Raspberry server to the Internet. For me it was another big step to improve my IT skills. Very soon I learned, that the Raspberry model I used would not be powerfull enough for my needs. Luckily, nowadays, technologies moved on, devices are powerfull enough and not consuming so much electricity as years ago. A passive cooling make computer quiet and that is another bonus.

So, today it is about 6 years, my personal / family Nextcloud server is connected on public IP and everything seems to be working well. I hope it will sustain like this...

At the end I would like to say Thank You Nextcloud! It is amazing environment. Keep it going!