Its developers provide binaries for most popular operating systems, including CentOS. Installing ownCloud doesn't take much effort.
Clients for Android and iOS devices let you access files on the ownCloud server from your mobile phone. Like other online cloud storage services, you can sync files on ownCloud either using the web browser or a desktop client on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The app also uses open protocols for example, you can access files using the WebDAV protocol, sync calendars with CalDAV, and sync address books with CardDAV. To manage data, it can either use SQLite (the default) or MySQL. In essence, ownCloud is a PHP application that runs atop the Apache web server. You can also share them with other ownCloud users. With this feature, the ownCloud server tracks all changes to every file and lets you revert to an older version with a single click.Īlong with files, ownCloud also lets you keep your calendar and address book in sync with ones on your desktop and mobile platforms. And ownCloud lets you mount external cloud storage drives, such as Google Drive, Amazon S3, Dropbox, and OpenStack Swift, and seamlessly manage data on these services along with that in your private cloud.Īnother interesting feature is file versioning, which comes in handy especially when you are sharing files with multiple users. It also gives you the option to encrypt your files. In addition, it can handle images and music files in the most popular file formats, and has a built-in gallery image viewer and a music player. It lets you view and edit files in both text and Open Document Format (such as ODT, ODP, and ODS) from within a browser.
The software has an impressive online file manager that can handle files in a variety of formats. Its granular permissions let users determine who can do what with their shared data. ownCloud has extensive user account management features that let you control whether your data is accessible to all users, a particular group of users, or just a specific user. You can, for example, tie it in with your single sign-on infrastructure and directory server, which lets you avoiding setting up new user accounts. OwnCloud can integrate with your existing network infrastructure. Users of the commercial editions of ownCloud can also define and direct users to different storage locations based on their roles and needs. While the freely available Community Edition has all the essential features, enterprise customers get additional ones such as the ability to use the Oracle database instead of MySQL, and a logging plugin that keeps detailed records of user actions on files.
The Enterprise Edition has a dual license that allows customers to implement third-party proprietary plugins and extensions, and features mobile and desktop clients. OwnCloud provides multiple editions, all licensed under the AGPL.
If you don't want to lose control of your data, yet enjoy all the benefits of an always-available and synchronized online repository, you can turn to ownCloud, an application that lets users share and sync files within the confines of your enterprise firewall on servers you control. This might not be an issue for the average desktop user, but for an enterprise it may be a deal-breaker. Cloud storage services like Dropbox have changed the way people collaborate and share files, but to get the most out of them, you need to trust your data to a third-party provider.