Like with all other online services, it's cheap until your collection grows. I basically outpaced Google Drive (at the time), and it would have been significantly more expensive to continue with their paid plans. So, I invested in hardware. LOL
But realistically, if you have a smaller photo/video collection, then I think it would be just as easy to spend $5-10 a month and forget about it. I was working with decades worth of images, so I would quickly outgrow any 1, 2, 3TB plans.
I may have tried the demo at some point (along with other Self-hosted solutions for photo backup), but Synology Photos does what I want without any real setup.
For search, I use a paid software called Excire Foto (German origin) that uses local-AI. I point it to my network folder, and it creates its own database away from my originals. Expensive software, but it's been worth it. Synology photos also has searching by subject, but Excire is far more contextual and easily beats out anything that Google Photos offered.
My Synology NAS is set up as RAID, so there's redundancy built in.
Then I have daily backups to an external drive (automatic, so there's no intervention).
In addition to (automatic) daily encrypted cloud backup (which I'm looking for an alternative due to rising costs). Ideally, I'd love to set up a second, smaller NAS somewhere else to offset the cloud backup costs.
Then I have a monthly backup on physical media kept secured outside of my home.
But my NAS handles way more than just photos and video, so this low effort is really covering all kinds of data.
I made the switch to self-hosting in part to reduce subscription costs of various services, and I'm sure that by now my setup has paid for itself.
Thank you. Any reason why they wouldn't make it more apparent from their homepage? I'm always interested in self-hosted solutions, and even I ducked out of there after seeing only subscription plans being offered.
Is it?? They don't make that evident anywhere on their website. All I see is a pricing page with no hint that it can be self-hosted.
I appreciate the privacy-first model, but I don't think I can ever go back to paid subscriptions for my photo and video storage. Not only does it cost a fortune over time, but when the company eventually folds or changes their policy for the worst, it's a nightmare to get your photos and videos to another platform.
Self-hosting is what I prefer, although, I can appreciate that it's not an option for everyone.
That's the difference between ethical governing and the unethical abuse of power.
If you want liberals to "get everything they want", and ignore democracy, they'd have to do it unethically.
Wouldn't it be better if everyone played by the rules, and governed like they are actually working in the best interests of voters?
Unior is solid and european
I'm currently looking at their tools. They seem to be easily available from one place that I order stuff from.
Topeak and Birzman are from Taiwan I think. SKS from Germany but their core products are fender and pumps. Shimano PRO also has some good tools.
I read conflicting info on Topeak, but they do appear to be a Taiwanese company who manufacturers there, too. I'm fine with that if I need to go with them.
I'm very familiar with SKS, and you're right, fenders tend to be their main product (here).
In Europe we have Decathlon with incredible value, but I don’t think they are present in Canada?
Yes, we do! My gravel bike is from Decathlon, and I agree that they offer excellent value. I didn't consider them for tools, as most of their products are made in Asia, but I can certainly look if nothing else comes up.
For now, I think Unior is the best bet, especially if you're looking at alternatives to Park Tool products.
Thank you, but bike multi-tools are fairly specialized and don't usually belong to traditional tool brands 🙁
Thanks. I guess the demo restricts those backup and export features.
I know it exists, but would rather self-host and not have this data linked to Strava.
Not sure how data is exported from that app, though.
I don't mean to talk negatively at all, and their product looks amazing (especially with the added context you've provided).
For me, based on my own experience and the huge amount of storage needed to keep my photos/videos safe, it's not cost-effective for me personally. If the choice was any of the other paid services or Ente, I think Ente would be the clear winner from the sound of it.