File server and storage management tools handle file sharing and storage infrastructure, from LAN file sharing to distributed and cloud-native storage.
For clustered storage backends, see Distributed Filesystems.
When it comes to setting up a file server and storage on Linux, there are several options depending on your specific needs, such as file sharing, centralized storage, object storage, or high-availability systems.
If your primary goal is backup and recovery, use the dedicated guide:
Backup & Recovery
- Purpose: Provides file and print services for Windows clients.
- Installation:
sudo apt-get install samba
- Configuration File:
/etc/samba/smb.conf
- Usage: Ideal for sharing files between Linux and Windows systems using the SMB/CIFS protocol.
Setup: Samba Setup
- Purpose: Native file-sharing system in Linux for sharing directories over a network.
- Installation:
sudo apt-get install nfs-kernel-server
- Configuration File:
/etc/exports
- Usage: Suitable for Linux-to-Linux file sharing and Unix-like systems.
Setup: NFS Setup
- Purpose: Used to transfer files over a network.
- Installation:
vsftpd: sudo apt-get install vsftpd (Very Secure FTP Daemon)proftpd: sudo apt-get install proftpd
- Configuration File:
/etc/vsftpd.conf or /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf
- Usage: Ideal for uploading and downloading files, often used in web development and legacy systems.
- Purpose: Secure file transfer over SSH.
- Installation: Usually comes with OpenSSH (
sudo apt-get install openssh-server)
- Usage: More secure alternative to FTP, works over SSH. Files are transferred securely and no additional configuration is needed if SSH is set up.
- Purpose: Remote file access over HTTP/HTTPS.
- Installation: Often via Apache or Nginx modules.
- Usage: Simple cross-platform file sharing and integration with clients.
More: WebDAV
| Feature |
Samba |
NFS |
FTP |
SFTP |
| Purpose |
Windows interoperability |
Linux/Unix file sharing |
File transfer |
Secure file transfer |
| Installation |
sudo apt-get install samba |
sudo apt-get install nfs-kernel-server |
sudo apt-get install vsftpd or sudo apt-get install proftpd |
Comes with OpenSSH (sudo apt-get install openssh-server) |
| Configuration File |
/etc/samba/smb.conf |
/etc/exports |
/etc/vsftpd.conf or /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf |
No additional configuration needed if SSH is set up |
| Usage |
SMB/CIFS protocol for Windows-Linux file sharing |
Linux-to-Linux and Unix-like systems |
Uploading and downloading files |
Secure file transfer over SSH |
- Purpose: Self-hosted object storage compatible with S3 APIs.
- Installation:
docker run -p 9000:9000 -p 9001:9001 minio/minio server /data --console-address ":9001"
- Usage: Great for backups, media storage, and app integrations.
More: MinIO
Setup: MinIO Setup
- Purpose: Object storage interface for Ceph.
- Usage: Enterprise-scale object storage with S3/Swift compatibility.
More: Ceph
Setup: Ceph Setup
- Purpose: Scale-out file storage across multiple servers.
- Usage: Shared POSIX file access with replication or striping.
Setup: GlusterFS Setup
- Purpose: Ceph’s POSIX file system interface.
- Usage: Large-scale, highly available file storage.
More: Ceph
- Purpose: High-performance parallel file system.
- Usage: HPC clusters and workloads requiring extreme throughput.
More: Lustre
Setup: Lustre Setup
- Purpose: Allows for flexible disk management (resizing, adding, or removing storage).
- Installation:
sudo apt-get install lvm2
- Commands:
pvcreate to create physical volumes.vgcreate to create a volume group.lvcreate to create logical volumes.lvextend or lvreduce to resize volumes.
- Purpose: Combine multiple drives to form a single logical unit, offering redundancy and performance improvements.
- Installation:
sudo apt-get install mdadm
- Configuration File:
/etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf
- Usage: Supports different RAID levels like RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, etc. for data redundancy or performance.
- Purpose: High-performance file system with advanced features like snapshots, copy-on-write, and integrity checking.
- Installation:
- On Ubuntu:
sudo apt install zfsutils-linux
- Usage: Ideal for large-scale storage with advanced data integrity needs.
More: ZFS
Setup: ZFS Setup
- Purpose: Cloud-native block storage for Kubernetes.
- Installation: Helm chart deployment in Kubernetes.
- Usage: Persistent volumes for Kubernetes clusters.
More: Longhorn
Setup: Longhorn Setup
¶ Cloud Storage and File Sync
- Purpose: Self-hosted cloud storage and file-sharing platform.
- Installation:
- Follow instructions for a web-based interface, typically on LAMP or LEMP stacks.
- Usage: Ideal for private cloud storage, with features for sharing, syncing, and collaborative work.
More: Nextcloud
Setup: Nextcloud Setup
- Purpose: File syncing and sharing platform.
- Installation:
- Install using provided packages for Ubuntu, CentOS, etc.
- Usage: Lightweight and efficient for syncing and file sharing, suitable for teams.
More: Seafile
Setup: Seafile Setup
- For user file shares, start with Samba (mixed Windows/Linux) or NFS (Linux/Unix only).
- For app storage, choose object (S3) for scale and block for databases or VM disks.
- For distributed file systems, prioritize operational simplicity (GlusterFS) vs scale (CephFS, Lustre).
- For sync and collaboration, use Nextcloud or Seafile and connect them to backend storage (NFS, S3).
| Type |
Examples |
Best For |
Notes |
| File Storage |
NFS, Samba, GlusterFS, CephFS |
Shared files and POSIX access |
Easy for legacy apps |
| Object Storage |
MinIO, Ceph RGW |
Backups, media, cloud-native apps |
S3/Swift APIs, no POSIX |
| Block Storage |
LVM, ZFS volumes, Ceph RBD, Longhorn |
Databases, VM disks, Kubernetes PVs |
Low‑latency, filesystem on top |
- Need Windows interoperability?
Choose Samba.
- Need Linux-to-Linux file sharing?
Choose NFS.
- Need scalable distributed file storage?
Choose GlusterFS or CephFS.
- Need object storage (S3-compatible)?
Choose MinIO or Ceph RGW.
- Need local snapshots and integrity?
Choose ZFS.
- Need file sync platform?
Choose Nextcloud or Seafile.
- Need backups with encryption/dedup?
Choose Restic or BorgBackup. See Backup & Recovery.
Do you need help or support? Feel free to contact us!