OxiCloud — Ultra-Fast Self-Hosted Cloud Storage Built in Rust

Introduction

OxiCloud is a self-hosted cloud storage solution built in Rust for speed and memory safety. It combines file storage, photo management, calendar, and contacts into a single platform, offering an alternative to Nextcloud with a focus on performance and a smaller resource footprint.

What OxiCloud Does

• Stores and synchronizes files across devices via WebDAV protocol
• Manages photos with automatic organization and thumbnail generation
• Provides CalDAV calendar and CardDAV contacts synchronization
• Supports file sharing with expiring links and password protection
• Offers a responsive web interface for browsing and managing stored content

Architecture Overview

OxiCloud is written entirely in Rust using the Actix-web framework for HTTP handling. Files are stored on the local filesystem or S3-compatible object storage, with metadata tracked in a SQLite or PostgreSQL database. The WebDAV, CalDAV, and CardDAV endpoints implement standard protocols for compatibility with desktop and mobile sync clients. The Rust foundation provides memory safety without garbage collection overhead, resulting in low resource consumption.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy using Docker Compose with the provided configuration
• Configure storage backend as local filesystem or S3-compatible storage
• Set database connection for metadata storage via environment variables
• Configure user authentication including OIDC integration for SSO
• Adjust upload size limits and thumbnail generation settings

Key Features

• Built in Rust for minimal memory usage and fast file operations
• WebDAV, CalDAV, and CardDAV support for standard client compatibility
• File sharing with expiring links, passwords, and download limits
• Photo gallery with automatic thumbnail generation and EXIF parsing
• Lightweight deployment that runs on hardware as small as a Raspberry Pi

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Nextcloud — feature-rich but heavier on resources; OxiCloud prioritizes performance and simplicity
• Seafile — proven sync performance; OxiCloud adds calendar and contacts in a single binary
• ownCloud — established ecosystem; OxiCloud offers a modern Rust codebase with lower overhead
• Syncthing — peer-to-peer sync only; OxiCloud provides a web interface and sharing features

FAQ

Q: Can I migrate data from Nextcloud to OxiCloud? A: Since both support WebDAV, you can sync files from Nextcloud to OxiCloud using any WebDAV client or rsync-like tools.

Q: What sync clients work with OxiCloud? A: Any WebDAV-compatible client works for files. For calendar and contacts, standard CalDAV and CardDAV clients like Thunderbird and DAVx5 are supported.

Q: How does OxiCloud compare to Nextcloud on resource usage? A: OxiCloud is designed to use significantly less RAM and CPU thanks to Rust's zero-cost abstractions and the absence of a PHP runtime.

Q: Is encryption at rest supported? A: Server-side encryption can be configured for the storage backend. End-to-end encryption depends on client-side implementation.

Sources

• https://github.com/AtalayaLabs/OxiCloud