Cotechnoe Cloud Hub — Nextcloud Secure File Collaboration on Azure

Cotechnoe Cloud Hub is a fully pre-configured, security-hardened Ubuntu VM that deploys Nextcloud Hub — the leading open-source file collaboration platform — directly from Azure Marketplace. Deploy from the Azure portal, complete the first-boot wizard, and your organization's private cloud is live in minutes, not days. All data stays within your Azure subscription.

Who benefits

• Universities and research institutions — share and version research data; integrate with Microsoft Entra ID for federated authentication; meet GDPR and data sovereignty policies
• Healthcare and life sciences organizations — keep patient data and clinical files within a specific Azure region; data never leaves your subscription; no third-party cloud provider involved
• Enterprises replacing public cloud storage — eliminate per-user SaaS fees; migrate from OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox to a self-hosted platform under full IT control
• Government and public-sector — meet data residency mandates; keep citizen data within your Azure region; integrate via SAML 2.0 / OIDC
• Non-profits and SMBs — cut per-user SaaS fees; deploy files, calendars, and contacts on a single VM with predictable Azure compute costs

Key capabilities

• Secure file sync and sharing — upload, share, and sync files from desktop, mobile, and web clients; versioning, recycling bin, and granular access control included
• Calendars and contacts — CalDAV and CardDAV servers compatible with macOS, iOS, Outlook, and Android; shared calendars and address books included
• HTTPS with modern TLS — TLS 1.2/1.3 enforced, HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect, HSTS, OCSP stapling, and security headers (X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy) pre-configured in Nginx
• Redis object cache — APCu local cache and Redis distributed/locking cache pre-configured; reduces database load and improves response time under concurrent users
• Certbot pre-installed — run after deployment to issue and auto-renew a Let's Encrypt certificate; ACME challenge route pre-configured in Nginx
• Rich app ecosystem — Nextcloud Hub 33 includes Talk (video calls), Nextcloud Office (document editing), and Entra ID / SAML integration as built-in apps; enable and configure from the Admin panel after first boot

What is included

• Nextcloud Hub 33 — the latest stable release of the leading open-source file collaboration platform, trusted by over 400,000 organizations worldwide
• PHP-FPM 8.3, PostgreSQL 16, Redis 7, and Nginx 1.24 — a performance-tuned, production-ready stack
• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — long-term supported base OS, supported until April 2029 (standard) and 2034 (ESM)
• Self-signed HTTPS certificate generated at image build time — replace with a Let's Encrypt certificate using the pre-installed Certbot, or supply your own CA-signed certificate

Security posture

• SSH key authentication enforced — password login disabled at the OS level; root login prohibited
• UFW firewall: only ports 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP redirect), and 443 (HTTPS) open by default
• PostgreSQL bound to localhost — the database is accessible only via Unix socket or 127.0.0.1, never exposed to the network
• PHP-FPM running as www-data, a dedicated non-root system user with minimal privileges
• Automatic HTTP to HTTPS redirect; HSTS (max-age=15768000, includeSubDomains) pre-configured in Nginx
• fail2ban configured for SSH (maxretry=5, bantime=1h) and Nextcloud login failures (maxretry=10)
• Automatic security updates via unattended-upgrades (security origin only, no automatic reboot)
• Built and validated against Azure Marketplace certification requirements

Data sovereignty

All data stays within your Azure subscription and region. No telemetry sent to Cotechnoe. GDPR-compatible by design.

Get started in minutes

Select a VM size — Standard_B2ms for evaluation, Standard_D2s_v3 (recommended default) or larger for production — deploy from Azure Marketplace, and complete the first-boot wizard to set your domain and administrator credentials. Full documentation is available at the support link below.

Nextcloud is a registered trademark of Nextcloud GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany. This offer is published by Cotechnoe and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nextcloud GmbH.