Rclone & Cloud Storage on a Seedbox: Google Drive, Dropbox & More

What Is Rclone?

Rclone is a command-line tool that syncs files between your seedbox and cloud storage providers. Think of it as rsync for the cloud. It supports Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, and dozens more.

On a seedbox, Rclone lets you:

• Backup your library to cloud storage automatically
• Offload old media to free up seedbox storage
• Mount cloud drives as local folders — Plex/Jellyfin can read directly from Google Drive
• Migrate between seedbox providers without re-downloading everything

Setup on Bytesized

Install Rclone from the Bytesized Panel. Once installed, configure your cloud storage remotes through the web interface or via the config file.

Sync vs Mount

Sync copies files from your seedbox to cloud storage (or vice versa). Files exist in both places. Use this for backups.

Mount makes cloud storage appear as a local folder on your seedbox. Files only exist in the cloud, but apps like Plex can read them as if they were local. This effectively gives you unlimited storage.

Common Configurations

Backup to Google Drive: Sync your /data/Movies/ and /data/TV Shows/ folders to Google Drive on a schedule. If your seedbox ever has issues, your library is safe.

Mount Google Drive as a Plex library: Mount your Google Drive and add it as a Plex library folder. Combined with local storage for recent content, you get the speed of local files for new media and the capacity of cloud storage for your archive.

Migrate between providers: Use Rclone to copy everything to cloud storage, switch providers, then copy back. No re-downloading.

Important Considerations

• API rate limits: Google Drive has API call limits. Use --drive-chunk-size and --buffer-size flags to optimize.
• Cache: When mounting, Rclone caches recently accessed files locally. Configure --vfs-cache-max-size based on your available storage.
• Encryption: Rclone supports client-side encryption (crypt remote). Your cloud provider never sees the file contents.
• Bandwidth: Cloud sync uses your seedbox upload bandwidth. Schedule syncs during off-peak hours if you have upload caps.

Bytesized + Rclone

Bytesized includes Rclone as a one-click install. Combined with our 10 Gbit network, transfers to and from cloud storage are fast. We've been helping users integrate cloud storage with their seedbox since Rclone's early days — 15+ years of media server hosting, 4.8/5 on Trustpilot.

What's Next?

• Set up the Arr stack
• Set up Plex
• Browse plans