Introduction

Our PiCloud Server is designed for maximum efficiency with minimal resource usage. While it runs beautifully on any system, we specifically optimized it for Raspberry Pi to take advantage of its low power consumption and small form factor. The entire application footprint is under 2MB (excluding Node.js runtime).

Why Raspberry Pi is Ideal

Low Power

Consumes just 3-5 watts, compared to 50-100W for traditional servers

Compact Size

Small footprint - fits anywhere with minimal space requirements

Scalable Storage

Supports USB drives, NAS, or network storage expansion

Customizable

Easily upgrade RAM or processing power with Pi models

Key Features

  • Bulk File Handling: Upload up to 999 files at once
  • Automatic Organization: Files sorted by type (images, documents, etc.)
  • Smart Search: Find files quickly with metadata indexing
  • Multi-select Operations: Download or delete multiple files at once
  • Expandable Storage: Add USB drives or network storage easily
  • Tiny Footprint: Core application under 2MB

Performance Metrics

Metric Raspberry Pi 5 Windows PC Linux Server
Power Consumption 5W 45W 25W
Memory Usage 150MB 200MB 180MB
Files Processed/sec 15 25 30
Idle CPU Usage 2% 1% 1%

Installation Guide

1. Install Node.js on Raspberry Pi

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Node.js
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Verify installation
node -v
npm -v

2. Server Setup on Pi

  1. Download and extract: 
    wget https://nodeitstudio.com/download/picloud.rar
unzip picloud.rar
cd picloud
  2. Install dependencies: 
    npm install --production
  3. Start the server: 
    node server.js

3. Auto-start on Boot (recommended)

Create a systemd service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/picloud.service

Add this content:

[Unit]
Description=PiCloud Server
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /home/pi/picloud/server.js
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/picloud
User=pi
Restart=always
Environment=NODE_ENV=production

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable picloud
sudo systemctl start picloud

1. Install Node.js on Windows

  1. Download Node.js LTS from nodejs.org
  2. Run the installer with default options
  3. Verify in Command Prompt: 
    node -v
npm -v

2. Server Setup

  1. Download and extract the zip file
  2. Create two batch files:

    install.bat

    @echo off
echo Installing dependencies...
npm install --production
pause

    start.bat

    @echo off
echo Starting PiCloud...
node server.js
pause
  3. Run install.bat first, then start.bat
  4. Access at http://localhost:5050

1. Install Node.js on Linux

# For Debian/Ubuntu
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# For RHEL/CentOS
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo bash -
sudo yum install -y nodejs

2. Server Setup

  1. Download and extract: 
    wget https://nodeitstudio.com/download/picloud.rar
unzip picloud.rar
cd picloud
  2. Install dependencies: 
    npm install --production
  3. Start the server: 
    node server.js
  4. For production: 
    NODE_ENV=production nohup node server.js &

Configuration Options

Customize in routes/upload.js:

module.exports = {
    port: 5050,                     // Server port
    maxFiles: 999,                  // Max files per upload
    maxStorage: '10GB',            // Storage limit (10GB, 1TB, etc.)
    uploadDir: './cloud-storage',   // Storage directory
    autoOrganize: true,            // Automatic file categorization
    fileTypes: {                   // Organization categories
        images: ['jpg','png','gif','webp'],
        documents: ['pdf','docx','txt','md'],
        media: ['mp4','mp3','avi','mov'],
        archives: ['zip','rar','7z','tar'],
        others: ['*']               // All other types
    },
    enableSearch: true,            // File search functionality
    thumbnailGeneration: true      // Generate thumbnails for images
};

Storage Expansion Guide

For Raspberry Pi users, you can easily expand storage:

  1. USB Drive: Plug in any USB storage and mount it to your upload directory
  2. NAS Storage: Mount network storage and point to it in config.js
  3. Cloud Backup: Set up cron jobs to sync with S3 or other cloud services

Ready to Build Your Efficient Cloud?

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