Hello everyone,

There are a few basic things in my current setup that I’m not very comfortable with. Since we’re on blackfriday -> cybermonday I think it would be a nice season to make some changes [cloud - e-mail - calendar - cloud - DNS] Here’s the deal:

E-mail / Calendar Strategy

  • Using tuta for more than 2 years but I still rely on my gmail address for many things; issues with Tuta:
  • troublesome to export/make backups (worse since I have many folders, would be folder by folder)
  • not a fan of not having an e-mail client on my desktop (not issue in mobile phone), also don’t love the calendar

What would be ideal:

  • a nice mail provider, possibility of easy backups, possibility of using e-mail client (this one is not a hard requirement)
  • Calendar, end-to-end encrypted: a hard requirement since I store some sensitive data there. Should be easy to see on mobile (e.g.: dedicated app); for desktop it does not matter much to me I guess the calendar requirement excludes nextcloud and most providers, as well as calDav stuff and similar
  • I wouldn’t mind if it would be 2 products working side by side if no alternatives are available (calendar and e-mail, but not ideal)

Backups and Cloud Storage (for redundancy)

  • I have 1 cold backup at home, another at someone else’s home (both encrypted) but to be safe I’d like to also have a trustworthy cloud Cloud: -end-to-end encrypted or -> next bullet
  • compatibility with cryptomator is a big plus (though I want to avoid Apple/Google/MS/Dropbox)
  • possibility of mounting the cloud storage as drive on my computer (not hard requirement this one)
  • could be 2 products side by side (not ideal though): a storage solution for entire backup (wasabis and stuff) and a cloud solution (day to day usage)

DNS for filtering

I’d like a solution to have all traffic filtered (malware, ads) system wide on my laptop/desktop I have used adguard in the past; open to all other possibilities. I also have mullvadVPN; wouldn’t using a different DNS defeat the purpose of the VPN? Or when VPN is on, the DNS is always the one of the VPN? Possibilities:

  • controlD (i have seen people vouching for it)
  • NextDNS (system settings)
  • MullvadDNS (system settings)
  • adguard desktop app

Malware / Virus / etc

I have a linux desktop and macOS laptop. My doubts are regarding macOS. I’ve seen so many new antivirus ads that it almost makes me think that I should have one. I have malwarebytes installed for occasional runs and CleanMyMacX (I have doubts regarding its security claims - I use more for system management)

  • Should I opt for an antivirus program? If so, which would be advised intego is showing up all the time weirdly)

This time of the year is when I can gear up, since financially I haven’t been at the top.

For those that will answer, thank you so much in advance!!!

  • @[email protected]OP
    2•7 months ago

    Thanks for the feedback! Ah for the 500GB it’s the higher plan. Already gets somewhat expensive.

    Regarding backblaze for backups, it’s basically a way of dropping all the stuff and leave it there right? It’s not a cloud service (in the sense of filen and others) but for keeping data right? How are you ensuring that you have all the backups encrypted?

    • @stifle867
      1•7 months ago

      It’s more expensive when you compare any individual services vs competitors but keep in mind you get email, VPN, storage, password manager, and calendar.

      • @[email protected]OP
        1•7 months ago

        That’s true! But the ultimate plan is quite a bit, at least where I live. Even though I’m in Europe, it’s a lower-than-average income country. But it’s definitely on my table. I just don’t understand one thing: the proton drive is only for the ultimate plan with 500GB? For the lower tier, there’s no access?

        • @stifle867
          1•7 months ago

          How the pricing structure works is:

          • All services have a free tier. For Drive it’s only 1GB for free.
          • If you specifically want only 1 service upgraded there’s a pricing tier between free and unlimited. For Drive it’s 200GB for 4.99 EUR p/month
          • Proton Unlimited tier is the intended paid tier for 9.99 EUR p/month that gets you premium access to all the apps with 500GB for Drive

          Discounts are available if you prepay for longer periods. If you wanted premium VPN and Drive for example you would want the Proton Unlimited (may be out of your budget). The free tier is enough to get started but you’d probably want more. If you’re willing to switch VPN it would be decent value. If you’re happy with the free tier, don’t want to switch VPN, and need more drive storage you’d be looking at an extra 4.99 for 500GB storage.

    • @[email protected]
      1•7 months ago

      You could actually use Backblaze for both scenarios: as a normal cloud storage where you can access stuff back n forth or for long term backups and storage.

      I use Duplicacy to copy and encrypt my main folders once a week. But you can set schedules for backups as you wish. Depending on how much you’re backing up it may get a bit pricey though. I have a little under a couple terabytes backed up and pay around $6 for Backblaze. They have a client I’ve never used that might be helpful as well.

      One thing I wanna look into is using Duplicacy to also back up really important documents to my proton storage.

      • @[email protected]OP
        1•7 months ago

        Yes that’s exactly what I was aiming for:

        • an option for data backups that I will only access/move when managing backups or restoring data in computer (I’d need at most 300-500GB)
        • an option for repeated access for files that I’d plan to use / change weekly.

        So with duplicati you’re able to send the backups to backblaze bucket in an encrypted way? What would I need to retrieve the data and unencrypt on computer if mine would break? How would you use backblaze as daily cloud? I thought it was mostly a bucket to drop stuff. Is there any way to mount it as a network drive while having everything encrypted ?

        • right now I have Filen with 100GB and it’s more than enough for me right now. However, from what I’ve read it’s not compatible with cryptomator and I cannot mount it as drive. Moreover the app is only for syncing data, which is not my aim
        • @[email protected]
          1•7 months ago

          I have some answers that might help but there’s a few pieces that I need to write out on something other than mobile. Will reply back in a day or so.