Specs: Raspberry Pi Zero W running Raspbian. I have a generic case that I found at Microcenter that came with a heat sync. Samba is installed for windows file sharing. Pi VPN is also installed for access from anywhere. Two hard drive enclosures form amazon with a few hard drives I had lying around: 1TB (left) and a 320GB (right). The fan is an Arctic Breeze Mobile and I also have a USB to Ethernet adapter. Everything is connected to a 7 hub Anker powered USB hub. The fan is probably overkill but whatever, it looks cool.
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Guides I followed to get it all up and running:
How To Geek: How to Turn a Raspberry Pi into a Low-Power Network Storage Device
Combining the two different hard drives to appear as one
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Edit: Added Amazon links - I didn't buy everything from amazon but this is easiest. Some things aren't the exact ones shown but close enough.
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Edit Edit: Added links to the guides I followed
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Edit^3: Thank you all for the support and my first Gold! I didn't think this would get as much support as it has gotten! :)
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Last Edit hopefully: I apologize I called it a "Cloud" Server. It has stirred up some debate on whether or not it is. I called it a "cloud" server because I can access it from anywhere.
I would recommend a Pi with an SD slot over an Arduino for this functionality. A Pi Zero looks like a great fit. I would utilize a Pi in a small form case and a big USB battery from amazon along with a cheap keyboard
Pi:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-zero/
Arduinos are better for interfacing with sensors, motors, other systems but generally aren't very well suited to what you're trying to accomplish.
I would approach this by writing a Pi boot loaded script that when loaded and ready to type would flash the capsand num lock indicators on my keyboard 3 times. Autowrite everything to memory but program a shortkey to allow the user to end the active typing session and start a new one. This existing session would be written to a file titled by Timestamp of when the file was created(to get around autosaving issues and data loss on power loss) Maybe setup an additional shortkey that allows the user to add a title to the typing session and finalize it. Indicate ready to type with sequenced blinks right to left twice and then when submitted with the same shortkey it sequences blinks left to right twice
I would program the application to only accept write content, program out the ability to remove content even when typing normally. To handle saving content when writing, setup the application to write to the active file identified by timestamp and utilize something along the lines of the command below when you hit space or every 20 characters or some other measure.
Write text directly to file:
sed -i 'text' SDCARD/TIMESTAMP.file
That's the rough of how I would approach this project.
With a wireless keyboard, literally just chuck the battery and pi where ever and your interface the wireless keyboard would just be the blank canvas you're looking for.
Amazon has them. I have the same one: Zebra Zero Heatsink Case in Black Ice for Raspberry Pi Zero 1.3 & Wireless ~ C4Labs by C4 Labs Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HP636I4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_7JNJPRA63K53SD84Z88R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This is the case that I use, it has a flat backing to it so you can add the velcro onto it and an area for the heat sink on the top. And I have used this cable for use in the same type of manner with using velcro to attach it to the back of the tv. If you want more of a bare bones type OS for your media you can try OpenELEC which per this (scroll down to the 3rd OS listed) article from Lifehacker OpenELEC's"main appeal is its speed. OpenELEC takes Kodi and cuts out a lot of the customization options to keep it barebones, fast, and simple. However, it’s not as open as OSMC, so you can’t make system level changes like altering the Pi’s overclock speed without delving into complex menus. OpenELEC also limits access to certain services, like SSH, so it’s not as easy to set up."
Edit: Adding more information and links for OS