Your media server,
explained simply.

The recommended server is a Mac mini M4 — 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB internal SSD is enough to run FamilyCloud with plenty of headroom. Plug in one or more external drives for your media, and you're ready. No rack. No network cabinet. It sits on a shelf, draws about 10 W at idle, and runs quietly in the background.

Any always-on Mac works — an older Mac mini, a MacBook on a stand, a Mac Studio. FamilyCloud adapts to what you have. Synology NAS support is on the roadmap.

Download one app. Open it. The setup wizard walks you through connecting your drives and choosing a passphrase in about five minutes. No command line. No Docker. No router port-forwarding.

Remote access uses Skyfire's CGNAT hole-punching protocol — the same technique modern VoIP apps use to reach devices behind carrier-grade NAT. Your router doesn't need a static IP or any special configuration. Once setup finishes, FamilyCloud kicks off an initial library scan that runs overnight.

Drop media files into the watched folders on your Mac mini — FamilyCloud picks them up automatically. For phones and tablets, the iOS and Android apps auto-backup photos and videos the moment you connect to your home Wi-Fi. No manual transfers, no cables.

AI runs locally on your hardware to tag faces, recognise locations, and group photos into events. No photo is sent to a third-party service for analysis. Search for 'beach 2023' or 'Grandma’s birthday' and FamilyCloud finds it instantly.

Once FamilyCloud is running, your library follows you. Open the app on your phone, a laptop, or a smart TV — anywhere in the world — and you're streaming from your own hardware at home.

The Skyfire punch-through protocol establishes a direct, encrypted connection between your device and your Mac mini without requiring a static IP address, VPN, or any manual network setup. It just works.

Add a second FamilyCloud node at a second location — your parents' house, a cabin, anywhere with broadband. Both sites hold a complete copy of your library and stay in sync continuously.

If your primary site loses power or internet, FamilyCloud automatically routes your family's access through the second site. No manual intervention. No data loss. When your primary site comes back online, it catches up silently in the background.

Start with one 1 TB external drive. When it fills up, plug in another. FamilyCloud detects the new drive and begins redistributing the library automatically — no reconfiguration required.

There's no practical ceiling. Families running several terabytes across multiple drives are a perfectly normal setup. FamilyCloud treats all your drives as one unified pool.