NAS Reborn
The Server Is Yours.
NAS Reborn turns a spare iPhone or iPad into a network drive on your home network. It shows up in the macOS Finder, the iPhone and iPad Files app and Windows Explorer over SMB, and it backs up your Mac with Time Machine, with no extra software and no account anywhere but the device. When you want to reach the wider internet, the same device also serves a real-HTTPS website and an S3-compatible API. Extremely low power, no cloud in the middle, no monthly fee.
How it works
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Dig out the drawer device
Install NAS Reborn on a spare iPhone or iPad, plug it in and tap Start. Anything from around 2014 on works.
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It shows up as a drive
On the same network the device appears in the macOS Finder, the Files app on iPhone and iPad, and Windows Explorer over SMB, with no client software to install.
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Use it like any shared disk
Drag files on and off, and point Time Machine at it to back up your Mac. Everything stays as ordinary files you can also see in the Files app.
What it serves
A drive in the Finder
On your home network the device shows up in the macOS Finder, the Files app on iPhone and iPad, and Windows Explorer over SMB. Drag files on and off, with no client software to install.
Time Machine backups
Point Time Machine at the drawer device and back up your Mac to it over the network, onto a USB drive if you plug one in, a timely replacement as AFP goes away.
Room for a USB drive
Plug a drive into the device and serve folders straight off it, so the server is not limited to the phone's own storage. Time Machine backups can live there too.
Also on the web
Opt in and the same device serves a real-HTTPS website and an S3-compatible API to the wider internet, with a trusted Let's Encrypt certificate that renews itself.
Sites without a build step
Drop a Jekyll-style folder in and the device renders it live: layouts, Markdown and posts, with no build and no deploy. Edit a file and the next request serves it.
Git hosting of your own
Push repositories to the device and clone them back, large files included. Working Copy finds the server by itself, and a push updates the files on the drive and the website they serve.
A camera and a dashboard
Point the device's own camera at the front door and watch it live in a browser. Read your Apple Home accessories and the phone's own sensors, and chart them on a page it serves.
Plays with your other apps
One tap configures S3 Files on all your devices, surfacing the server in the Files app and Finder. rclone scripts it, browsers just browse.
Your files stay files
Everything lives as plain files visible in the Files app. Nothing is locked in a database, and your data never needs an export step.
Private by default
New folders are private until you decide otherwise. Use a shared access key, or hand out distinct keys for fine-grained control.
No cloud in the middle
Your files sit on hardware in your home. When you publish a site, visitors fetch it from the device itself, and the only thing I run is the address book that points them to it.
Made for drawer devices
Runs on iOS 15: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Air 2 and later, everything from around 2014 on. An old phone serving your files draws just a few watts.
Free and Pro
The network drive is free: SMB sharing, Time Machine backups and external USB drives, with no size limits, plus a real-HTTPS website and S3 serving for two folders of 5 GB each, two git repositories, and camera feeds and sensor data without a limit. A one-time Pro purchase lifts the serving limits and adds external drives on the web, custom domains, static site export, a share name of your choosing, and a separate login and access key for each person on your network. No subscription, and no bandwidth metering: your traffic never passes through me.
Before you buy
The drive works on your own network. The only thing NAS Reborn sends on its own is a check for critical security notices, which you can disable in Settings. Reaching the wider internet is the optional part, and it depends on your connection: IPv6, automatic port mapping or a router you can configure. NAS Reborn probes the device from outside and shows you which addresses actually work. And should the NAS Reborn backend ever disappear, your device keeps serving on your network and your files remain ordinary files in the Files app. The point of self-hosting is that nobody can take it away, not even me.
