Who Needs Dropbox? How Two Forgotten Gadgets Became My Zero-Dollar Cloud Suite
- Rich Washburn
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The Closet Purge That Sparked a Weekend “A-Ha!”
Saturday afternoon, I’m knee-deep in “Why do I still own this?” mode when a friend pings me:
“Google Drive just flashed the red storage banner again—worth paying for more?”
I hear some version of that question almost weekly: How do I stop paying for iCloud? What’s the cheapest way to swap full-resolution photos?
While the phone’s still buzzing, I fish two museum pieces out of a box:
An absurdly large Android watch-phone—too chunky for a wrist, too sad for e-waste.
A Raspberry Pi that once powered a scrolling LED sign.
Twenty minutes later, those relics were reborn as two fully functional clouds—one for instant uploads, one for a polished client portal—each costing exactly $0/month. Here’s the recipe, Rich-style.
Cloud #1 — Five-Minute Android Upload Box
Perfect when you need strangers to lob big files your way—lossless, login-free:
Install HTTP-FS on any Android device. One tap turns the gadget into a web server with its own upload page. (play.google.com)
Choose a folder (SD card = easy expandable storage), tap Start, note the URL (e.g., http://192.168.1.88:8080).
Pro-tip: Drop a index.html (or an entire folder of static assets) in that directory and you’re now serving a full website—yes, from a watch-phone.
Expose it safely with Cloudflare Tunnel—no router acrobatics:
cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:8080 # instant public HTTPS
Cloudflare spits back a test URL or you can map a subdomain like upload.yourdomain.com. (developers.cloudflare.com)
Generate a QR code and park the device on an isolated Wi-Fi VLAN. Worst-case hack? Someone steals your vacation pics—have at it.
Five minutes, zero dollars, and you look like a wizard when folks scan-and-upload in one shot.
Cloud #2 — ArozOS on a Raspberry Pi (15-Minute Client Portal)
Need something heftier and brandable? ArozOS is a full web desktop that runs on hardware you’d otherwise use as a paperweight.
Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite → boot → SSH in.
Run the three-liner installer:
curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tobychui/arozos/master/installer/install_for_pi.sh | bash sudo /opt/arozos/start.sh # default :8080
Browse to http://pi-ip:8080 and you’re staring at windows, folders, even a terminal—inside a browser tab. (github.com)
Unlimited user accounts. Each account gets its own login, drag-and-drop file space, and a personal website slot—drop HTML in /www and boom, instant site. (github.com)
Cloudflare Tunnel it the same way (cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:8080) and map portal.yourdomain.com.
Optional turbo: add a USB-3 SSD; a Pi 5 will sling gig-sized files with enterprise swagger.
Why Cloudflare Tunnel Beats Port-Forwarding
No exposed home IP—traffic terminates at Cloudflare’s edge.
Works behind CGNAT & hotel Wi-Fi—zero router voodoo.
Instant HTTPS—auto-renew certs, no cron jobs. (developers.cloudflare.com)
TL;DR Cheat-Sheet
Need | Hardware | Setup Time | Monthly Cost |
Public “drop-here” uploads & static site | Any old Android + SD card | 5 min | $0 |
Branded client portal & multi-site hosting | Raspberry Pi (Zero → 5) + SSD | 15 min | $0 |
Final Thought
Next time a red storage banner tries to shake you down, remember: a forgotten watch-phone and a retired Pi can out-cloud Big Tech—for free. Dig into that drawer, copy the commands above, and build a cloud that lives on your metal, rent-free.
Need QR-code templates, imaging scripts, or step-by-step tunnel screenshots? Ping me.
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