Internxt is a decentralized, encrypted, zero-knowledge cloud storage service you should check out

If you’re looking for a secure cloud storage service that has desktop clients for almost every platform and is open source to boot, Internxt might be just what you’re looking for.

There are so many cloud services on the market that you could throw a stone at one data center and probably hit two or three without too much effort. This is good news for those who are still looking for another cloud service to host their data.

TO SEE: iCloud vs OneDrive: Which is better for Mac, iPad and iPhone users? (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

A service that recently caught my eye is Internxt, which is not only a zero-knowledge encrypted cloud storage service, it is also open-source (you can see the Internxt source code on GitHub). Internxt loves Web 3, so it’s decentralized, meaning uploaded files are client-side encrypted, sharded, and distributed worldwide. This means that a single server never has a full version of a file, so it’s exponentially harder to steal data.

Internxt offers a free plan, which is limited to 2GB of storage (although its free plan actually lists 10GB, you only get 2GB in Drive). For 98 cents/month you can boost that up to 20GB, for $3.86/month you get 200GB, and for $9.95 you get 2TB of storage. Internxt currently offers two products:

• Drive–for files
• Pictures–for pictures

He has a third product in development for sending files (called Send).

Even better, Internxt offers desktop clients for Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as for android and iOS.

I will show you how to install the Linux client and connect it to your Internxt account.

What you will need

The first thing you will need is an Internxt account, so go to service site and create a new account. You can start with the free account and upgrade if needed. You will also need a user with sudo privileges (for Linux installation). If you’re installing on macOS or Windows, the steps are the same as installing any app.

How to Install the Internxt Desktop App

Log in to your Linux desktop and point your web browser to Internxt GitHub page where you can download one of the installers. For an Ubuntu-based desktop, download the amd64.deb file for the latest version (as of now, it’s 1.7.1).

Once the file is downloaded, open a terminal window, go to the directory containing the downloaded file and install it with:

sudo dpkg -i internxt-drive_1.7.1_amd64.deb

Once the installation is complete, find the Internxt entry in your desktop menu and launch the application. You will be prompted to enter your Internxt credentials (Figure A).

Figure A

Once you have successfully logged in, the desktop app will create a new folder called ~/Internxt, where all files will be synced to your account.

How to configure Internxt

The first thing to do is to make sure that the Internxt service starts on boot. You will find the Internxt client launcher in your system tray. Click this icon, then click Internxt Drive from the drop-down menu. Click the gear icon and select Preferences (Figure B).

Figure B

In the resulting window (Figure C), check Start Internxt Drive at system startup.

Figure C

If needed, you can also change the folder location for Internxt from your user’s home directory to anywhere the user has permission to access. From this same window, you can enable the backup feature and select the folders you want to back up (Figure D).

Figure D

The warning

The only strike against Internxt is that the desktop client offers no file manager integration (at least not on Linux). This means that there is no Internxt entry in the right-click context menus for you to sync files. For most, this won’t be a problem. But for experienced cloud users, this missing file manager integration could be a deal breaker. Hopefully this feature will be added to the desktop client in future releases.

Ultimately, the Internxt desktop client is quite simple, but it serves its purpose well. As long as you don’t mind missing a file manager context menu, you should be good to go with this service and client.

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