☁️ Building My Own Personal Cloud with Raspberry Pi 4B — A DIY NAS Solution

In today’s hyper-connected world, owning your own cloud is a powerful way to take control of your data privacy, accessibility, and storage management. That’s exactly what I set out to build — a Personal Cloud Storage System using the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.

What started as a curiosity turned into a full-fledged DIY project, involving everything from Linux configurations and network protocols to frontend and backend development. And the result? A sleek, functional, self-hosted NAS (Network Attached Storage) system — entirely built at home.

🧠 Project Overview

This project turns a Raspberry Pi 4B into a personal, scalable, and cost-effective cloud storage system. Think of it like your own mini-Google Drive — but with full control, offline capabilities, and custom features.

🔧 Tech Stack & Features

• 💻 Frontend: React.js
• ⚙️ Backend: Node.js + Express + Docker
• 💾 Storage: External HDD connected to Raspberry Pi
• 🔐 Authentication: JWT-based login system
• 🧭 Features:
• Upload, view, and delete files
• User authentication
• Mobile-friendly UI
• Real-time storage usage stats
• Accessible on local network

🧩 Key Contributions

• 💡 Technical Development: I was responsible for the backend APIs, frontend UI, authentication flow, and deployment on Raspberry Pi. All this was done under the technical guidance of Atharva Chopde, who played a crucial role in shaping the architecture and logic throughout the development process.
• 📚 Documentation: Thanks to Darshan Gaikwad for creating clear, concise, and developer-friendly documentation that made onboarding and setup seamless.
• 🔌 Hardware Assembly: A big shoutout to Austin George for taking charge of the hardware side — from assembling the Raspberry Pi to configuring peripherals and ensuring stable performance.

🙏 Special Thanks

A huge thank you to Atharva Chopde for having our backs on the technical side. His guidance, mentorship, and deep understanding of full-stack development were pivotal to this project. Working under him helped me understand not just how to build, but why to build the right way.

🔗 GitHub Repository

You can find the full source code, documentation, and deployment steps on GitHub:

👉 Explore the Project on GitHub

Feel free to star ⭐, fork, or raise issues — contributions are welcome!

🚀 What I Learned

• Real-world backend + frontend integration on embedded hardware.
• System design thinking — especially for low-resource environments.
• Collaborating as a team across technical and non-technical domains.

🎯 What’s Next?

• Add remote access via Dynamic DNS
• Implement user roles and access levels
• Media preview (images, audio, and video)
• Auto backup scripts and scheduled sync

This project combined software development, hardware tinkering, and real teamwork — all aligned toward a meaningful goal: data freedom and ownership. If you’re a builder, a tech enthusiast, or someone who just wants more control over their data, I highly recommend giving this project a shot!