A Raspberry Pi 5 home server for your family

Off The Cloud is free, open-source software that turns a Raspberry Pi 5 and two USB drives into your family's home server: a private social network for your family and friends, a backup of everyone's photos and videos, and a NAS for your files. The computer app prepares its card, your phone or Mac finishes the setup in about 20 minutes, and each drive keeps a full copy of everything.

Try the demo Look around a real device with a made-up family's photos and files. No sign-up.

What you need

A Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB of memory. One with 4 GB works too, with Image Tagging and Face Recognition turned off before you back up your photos: those need more memory.
A microSD card for the system. 8 GB or more. Your photos, files and settings live on the drives, not on the card.
Two USB drives for your files. USB sticks, SSDs, hard disks or microSD cards in USB card readers, in the Pi's two blue USB ports. Each keeps a full copy, so the smaller one sets how much space you have.
A good power supply and a cooler. The official 27 W USB-C power supply, or a better one, and an active cooler: with a weaker supply the Pi can restart from low voltage while it works through your photos.
No keyboard, monitor or Linux knowledge. A Mac, Windows or Linux computer prepares the card, and your phone or Mac finishes the setup over Bluetooth.

Set it up in about 20 minutes

Make the card. The computer app downloads the image and checks its signature, then writes the card on Windows and Linux, or hands it to Raspberry Pi Imager on a Mac. You can also flash the image with Imager yourself.
Plug it in. The two drives go in the blue USB ports and the card in the Pi; then power it on. After a minute it shows up over Bluetooth.
Finish over Bluetooth. Tap Set up a new device in the iPhone or Android app, or choose On this Mac in the Mac app. It asks for your Wi-Fi, a name and a password for the device and how to use the drives, then installs the software.
Sign in. The app connects to the new device with the password you chose, and any browser opens it at its address.

Get your device running

Two drives, a full copy on each

Every file twice. The drives are a mirror (RAID-1): each holds everything. If one stops working, the device carries on with the other, and an alert names the USB port of the one to replace.
Replacing one. Plug in a drive at least as large and the device copies everything onto it by itself, erasing what was on it. Another alert says when both are working again.
More space. Swap the drives for bigger ones, one at a time: once both are bigger, the device grows its storage by itself, without stopping.
A copy kept elsewhere. Now and then, swap one drive for a spare: the one that comes out is a full copy of the device, and Recover this device in the setup brings it back.

How do I back up my device?

Status lights, if you want them

Two optional lights, one per drive, show at a glance how the mirror is doing. Each is a red and a green LED wired to the Pi's pins through a resistor, and the device lights them by itself:

Both green: both disks are working and hold the same files.
One red, one green: the disk on red has stopped working or was taken out. Your files are safe on the other one: replace the red one soon.
One flashing red, one green: a new disk is being filled with a copy of your files. Don't take out the green one until both are green again.
Both red: no mirror is running: the device was set up without two disks, or neither disk is working.
Both off: the device is off, or still starting.

How do I wire the status lights?

If the Pi itself dies

Your photos, files and settings are on the drives, so a new Pi takes over: move the card and the drives to it and power it on. If the card is lost too, flash a new one, attach the same drives and choose Recover this device in the setup: the device comes back as it was, with the same password. Start fresh instead would erase both drives.

See it before you buy anything

Try the demo Get your device running

Look around a real device with a made-up family's photos and files. No sign-up.

FAQ

Questions people actually ask

Can I use another computer instead of a Raspberry Pi 5?

Yes. The install script runs on any 64-bit machine with Ubuntu, Debian or another Debian-based Linux, Intel/AMD or ARM, from an old PC to a mini PC, with 8 GB of memory, and gives you the same app. The ready-made image, the setup over Bluetooth, the status lights and the alerts that name a USB port are the Raspberry Pi 5's.

What does it cost?

The software is free and open source: you buy the Pi, its card, two drives, a power supply and a cooler once, and at home it needs nothing else. To reach it from outside your home, the bridge is free for its first two years, then €9.99 + VAT a year with up to five addresses.

Can I reach it when I'm away from home?

Yes: the bridge gives your device an address like casa.off-the.cloud, which the apps use whenever you're out, and your friends' devices reach it there. At home the apps connect straight to the device, at the speed of your own network.

How does it stay up to date?

When a new release is out, the device says so in its alerts, and Update in Settings installs it: the device checks the release against the project's signature, builds it and restarts. Your photos and files stay where they are.