If the firm has a server or a NAS, or pays another company for storage, JUDLEX can keep its data there. You do not need to know how it works inside: you only need to know what to ask for.
Which one to choose
Look at the words your provider or IT person uses:
If they say… | Choose |
|---|---|
Nextcloud, ownCloud, WebDAV, Koofr, or a Synology or QNAP NAS | WebDAV (Nextcloud, Synology…) |
S3, S3-compatible, object storage, bucket, access key, Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze, Wasabi, MinIO | S3 (Wasabi, Backblaze, MinIO…) |
SSH, SFTP, Linux server, port 22, public key | SFTP |
All three work for backups. To share with a colleague by link, only Nextcloud, ownCloud and S3 will do, and only if the server can be reached from the internet (with an office network address, a colleague outside could not open it). With the firm folder, all three work, as long as everyone uses the same place.
What to ask for
WebDAV: the https:// address of the folder for JUDLEX, the username and, if the server has them, an app password. If the server uses its own certificate (the usual case on a NAS without Let's Encrypt) or you connect by its IP address, also that certificate's SHA-256 fingerprint, to compare it.
S3: the service address, the region, the bucket name (already created), the access key and the secret key, and whether path-style addresses are needed.
SFTP: the server, the port, the username, the SHA256 fingerprint of the server's key and its type (ed25519, ecdsa or rsa), and the folder: empty for the user's home folder, or a full path that already exists and that the user can write in. To sign in, a key is better: the one JUDLEX generates (you give them the public line and they install it; you do not need to wait for them to save the connection) or one they give you, which will also work if you ever restore the firm on another computer.
In all three cases, access should be limited to one folder or bucket for JUDLEX, and always over a secure connection. With http://, JUDLEX only connects to a server on that same computer; an office NAS needs HTTPS turned on.
A message for your IT person
You can copy it and adapt it:
Hello,
We are going to use JUDLEX to keep backups of the firm on our own storage, and to share case files between colleagues. JUDLEX connects over WebDAV, S3-compatible storage or SFTP. Which suits you best?
I need access limited to one folder (or bucket) for JUDLEX, always over https or SFTP:
WebDAV: the https address of the folder, the username and an app password. If the certificate is the NAS's own, its SHA-256 fingerprint.
S3: the address (endpoint), the region, the bucket, the access key ID and the secret access key, and whether path-style is needed.
SFTP: server, port, username and folder, and the SHA256 fingerprint of the server's key (
ssh-keygen -lf /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub). To sign in, I will send you an ed25519 public key generated by JUDLEX, for that user'sauthorized_keys.Please pass on the keys in person or through a secure channel, not by email.
Thank you.
What your IT person may want to know
The details (methods, permissions, an example S3 policy, how to lock an SFTP user into its folder) are in the technical guide, which you can pass on. The essentials:
What is shared with a colleague is always encrypted on the computer before it leaves: on the server there are only files with meaningless names. The backup is encrypted only if the firm chooses it when turning it on; otherwise its folders and files can be seen on the server under their own names. That is why it is best if only JUDLEX can get into that folder.
JUDLEX creates and deletes its own files inside the JUDLEX folder and, if one is used, the firm folder. It does not touch anything else.
With S3, if the service allows it, it is a good idea to add a rule that cleans up incomplete uploads of large files.