Member Avatar for Stefce

Hello everyone i heard about this new but not new technology, which pays you to rent your free HDD space for cloud purposes. I like to ask is there anyone which can give me some more info about this? Am planing to invest about $150 - $200 for Raspberry Pi 3 and 2HDD's with 2TB and let them run. I have readed this article which gives you a education how much will cost/earn you <link removed>. And here is the website which offer this <link removed>
What do you think, does this investment is good or money waste ?

Edited by Reverend Jim because: possible spam links removed
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A concise expert note expanding on points already raised by and , focused on practical risks and checks for a small home-based node (Raspberry Pi + consumer drives).

First, the real costs and single‑point risks matter more than the sticker price. Running two drives off one Pi creates a single failure domain: a Pi power/failure, USB/SATA adapter fault, or local network outage will take both drives offline. Home SD cards and cheap power supplies are common failure sources. Suggested mitigations include using UPS protection, a powered SATA enclosure or proper HAT, SMART monitoring and automated alerts, and treating the setup as experimental rather than production-grade.

Second, clarify the policy and legal side before investing. The provider’s node requirements, allowed content, logging responsibility, and whether multiple drives on one host count as independent nodes vary. ISP terms (data caps, server/hosting prohibitions) and local laws about hosting user content are vitally important. Encryption of stored objects lowers but does not eliminate legal exposure; checking the provider’s TOS and abuse/DMCA handling is essential.

Third, run a strict ROI pilot. Build a simple monthly model: expected payout per TB (from the chosen service) minus monthly electricity, additional internet costs, amortized hardware replacement, and possible penalties from downtime. Measure real uptime, bandwidth use, and drive replacement frequency during a 30–60 day pilot before scaling.

Quick checklist to follow before committing money:

  • Confirm provider node rules (one node per IP/host? multiple drives allowed?).
  • Check ISP terms and local law.
  • Use NAS-rated drives or budget for replacements; enable SMART and alerts.
  • Use UPS and a stable power source; avoid relying on Pi SD card for constant writes.
  • Start with one node, monitor for 30–60 days, then decide.

This keeps expectations realistic: at small scale margins are thin and reliability/legal exposure drive most decisions, not just hardware cost.

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

I can see several issues off the top of my head such as

  • You may have to guarantee that your drive is available 24x7. What provisions would you have to make in the event of a failure (hardware or software)
  • Would you have to guarantee any type of backup of the data
  • Would you be held liable if the user content is illegal (encrypted or not)
  • What control would you have over the user's use of your bandwidth

I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that this isn't just a spam post but I'm still removing the links just in case.

Edited by Reverend Jim
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