DEV Community: Nityam Sheth

I built my own S3 for $5/mo Shared Hosting (because no one else did)

Nityam Sheth — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 07:57:03 +0000

The Problem: S3 is expensive, and MinIO needs VPS

I was looking for a way to have S3-compatible object storage without paying AWS/Cloudflare/Backblaze fees, and specifically, I wanted to run it on the cheap Shared Hosting (cPanel) plan I already pay for.

The problem?

MinIO requires a binary/Docker (can't run on shared hosting).
LocalStack is for testing, not storage.
Existing PHP scripts were either 10 years old, unmaintained, or didn't support the S3 API properly.

I wanted something I could just FTP upload, create a MySQL database, and boom—my own personal S3 bucket.

The Solution: Lite-S3

Since it didn't exist, I built it (with a lot of help from AI agents).

Lite-S3 is a pure PHP implementation of an S3-compatible server.

What it does:

✅ S3 API Compatible: Works with AWS SDK, boto3, rclone, etc.
✅ Shared Hosting Friendly: Runs on standard PHP 8.0+ and MySQL (cPanel, Plesk).
✅ Multi-User: Create users with their own Access/Secret keys.
✅ Permissions: Read/Write/Admin access controls per bucket.
✅ Large Files: Supports 5GB+ uploads (using PHP streams).
✅ Admin UI: A clean dashboard to manage everything.

How it works (The Technical Part)

It maps S3 API calls to PHP functions.

Authentication: It verifies standard AWS Signature v4 headers against credentials stored in MySQL. This was the hardest part to get right in PHP!
Routing: A simple .htaccess routes specific S3 paths (/bucket/key) to the handler.
Storage: Files are stored as plain flat files on the disk. This means you can easily FTP in and backup your data; it's not locked in a proprietary format.
Multipart Uploads: It implements the full S3 multipart upload flow (Initiate -> Upload Part -> Complete) to handle large files without hitting PHP memory limits.

Is it 100% S3 Compatible?

Honest answer: No.

It implements the Core CRUD operations that 95% of apps use:

PutObject (Upload)
GetObject (Download)
DeleteObject
ListObjectsV2
CreateBucket / DeleteBucket

It missing things like:

Object Versioning
Range Requests (seeking in video)
Object-level ACLs (permissions are per-bucket)

But for "I need a place to dump my backups/images via API," it works perfectly.

Try it out

It's fully open source (GPLv3) and I'd love for people to test it on their cheap hosting plans and break it.

🔗 GitHub Repo: nityam2007/lite-s3

(Note: This project was heavily assisted by AI coding agents, which helped me sanity check the AWS Signature logic and build the UI quickly. We live in the future!)

I Made a Reference Guide for AMB25 Because Realtek Forgot To 🤷‍♂️

Nityam Sheth — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 07:13:45 +0000

I Made a Reference Guide for AMB25 Because Realtek Forgot To 🤷‍♂️

Hey devs! 👋

So, picture this: You just bought a shiny new development board. It's got dual-band WiFi, BLE 5.0, a beefy ARM Cortex-M33 processor, and it's Arduino compatible. You're pumped. You're ready to build the next big IoT thing. You crack open the documentation and... it's a mess. Scattered. Incomplete. You spend more time hunting for information than actually coding.

Sound familiar? Yeah, that was me with the AMB25/AMB26 (Realtek RTL8720DF) board.

So I did what any slightly frustrated developer would do — I made my own complete reference guide. And today, I'm sharing it with you!

🔗 The Repo

GitHub: https://github.com/nityam2007/AMB25-reference

Star it, fork it, contribute to it. Let's make this the resource that should have existed from day one.

Wait, What's an AMB25 Anyway?

Great question! The AMB25 is a development board built around Realtek's RTL8720DF chip. It's actually pretty impressive for its size:

CPU: ARM Cortex-M33 running at 200MHz (that's fast for a microcontroller!)
RAM: 512KB
Flash: 4MB (2MB available for your code)
WiFi: Dual-band 2.4GHz AND 5GHz (802.11 a/b/g/n)
Bluetooth: BLE 5.0
Size: Tiny 50.7 × 17.8 mm form factor
USB: Type-C (finally, a reversible connector!)

Think of it as an ESP32's cool cousin that nobody talks about at family gatherings.

Why I Made This Reference Guide

Here's the thing about the AMB25 — it's genuinely a solid board. Dual-band WiFi is rare at this price point. BLE 5.0 is nice. The 200MHz processor is speedy. But the documentation? Let's just say it could use some love.

I found myself constantly jumping between:

Forum posts from 2021 that may or may not still be relevant
Scattered code examples that didn't compile
Pinout diagrams that required a magnifying glass and a prayer
API references that assumed you already knew everything

After the fifth time I had to search "AMB25 how to connect WiFi" and got five different answers, I snapped. Not in a bad way — in a "let me fix this" way.

What's In The Reference Guide?

I tried to cover everything you'd actually need:

📍 Complete GPIO Reference

Every. Single. Pin. With actual useful information like:

Which pins support PWM
Which pins have ADC capability
What each pin is shared with (so you don't accidentally fight over resources)
Recommended pins for common use cases

Here's a taste of what the pinout table looks like:

Pin#	GPIO	ADC	PWM	SPI	I2C
0	PA15			SPI1_SS
6	PA26		✓		I2C_SDA
7	PA25	✓			I2C_SCL
11	PB1	A4

No more guessing which pin does what!

📶 WiFi Examples That Actually Work

Both 2.4GHz and 5GHz examples. Station mode. AP mode. Scanning networks. Actually connecting to your home WiFi without it being a three-hour ordeal. All tested. All working.

🔌 Serial Communication

Did you know the AMB25 has THREE UART interfaces? I didn't! Until I dug through the datasheet at 2 AM. Now you don't have to:

Serial — USB Serial (for Serial Monitor)
Serial1 — Hardware UART1 (pins PB19/PB18)
Serial2 — Hardware UART2 (pins PA12/PA13)

💾 Flash Storage

How to save data that survives power cycles using FlashMemory. Because sometimes you need to remember things.

🐛 Common Issues & Fixes

This section alone probably saved me hours of future frustration:

"Upload failed!" — Try holding the Burn button while pressing Reset, then release both. Now upload.

"Serial Monitor shows garbage!" — Set baud rate to 115200.

"WiFi won't connect to 5GHz!" — Make sure you're using the right channel. Some regions restrict certain 5GHz channels.

My Favorite Discovery: Auto Upload Mode

Okay, so normally to upload code to the AMB25, you have to do this weird dance:

Hold the Burn button
Press Reset
Release both
Quickly click Upload in Arduino IDE
Hope you timed it right

But guess what? There's an Auto Upload Mode! Just enable it in Tools → Auto Upload Mode → Enable, and the board handles it automatically. Mind. Blown.

Why isn't this the default? Why wasn't this in big bold letters on the product page? I have no idea. But now you know!

Code Snippet: Connect to WiFi

Here's a quick snippet to get you connected:

#include <WiFi.h>

char ssid[] = "YourNetworkName";
char pass[] = "YourPassword";

void setup() {
    Serial.begin(115200);

    WiFi.begin(ssid, pass);

    while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
        delay(500);
        Serial.print(".");
    }

    Serial.println("\nConnected!");
    Serial.print("IP: ");
    Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}

void loop() {
    // Your awesome code here
}

Simple, right? That's the goal of the whole reference — make things simple and actually usable.

Contributing

The reference is open source (obviously). If you find an error, have a better example, or discovered some hidden AMB25 magic — please contribute! Open an issue, submit a PR, or just leave a comment.

I especially want to hear about:

Edge cases I haven't covered
Projects you've built with the AMB25
Things that confused you that I should clarify

Final Thoughts

The AMB25/AMB26 is genuinely an underrated board. Dual-band WiFi, BLE 5.0, Arduino compatible, USB-C — it checks a lot of boxes. The only thing holding it back is documentation, and hopefully this reference guide helps fix that.

If you're working with these boards, give the guide a look. If it helps you, drop a star on the repo. If you find something wrong, let me know!

📚 Full Reference: https://github.com/nityam2007/AMB25-reference

Happy hacking! 🚀

P.S. — If anyone from Realtek is reading this... please improve your docs. Love the hardware though. ❤️

Free forever, privacy-first browser tools — 150+ utilities in one place

Nityam Sheth — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 15:31:16 +0000

I built NYTM Tools — a collection of 150+ free browser-based utilities for developers, students, and everyday users.

No ads
No subscriptions
No accounts
No tracking
Client-side first — your files stay on your device

Tools include:
image converters/compression, PDF split/merge, JSON/CSV utilities, regex helper, cron parser, hash generators, QR/barcode, timestamp and color converters, unit converters, text formatting and cleanup, and more.

Why I built it: most tool sites are slow, ad-heavy, require uploads, or hide simple features behind paywalls. I wanted one fast, clean, privacy-respecting hub that stays free forever (supported by optional donations).

If you have feature requests, tool ideas, bug reports, or want to contribute, I’m open to collaboration. Good UI, SEO suggestions, and new tool concepts are especially helpful.

Live: https://nytm.in
Repo: https://github.com/nityam2007/nytm-multitools
Email: hello@nytm.in

I built NYTM Tools -- 150+ free, privacy-first web utilities. Looking for ideas & contributors

Nityam Sheth — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 15:25:15 +0000

Hey everyone — I’ve been working on a project called NYTM Tools (https://nytm.in).

It’s a collection of over 150 free, privacy-first browser tools designed to solve everyday problems without forcing uploads, accounts, or subscriptions. There are no ads, no payment gates, and no tracking — and the tools are free forever. If someone finds value, they can donate, but it’s optional.

Most tools run directly in your browser, so your files and data stay on your device. The idea is simple: fast tools that respect privacy and avoid the typical friction found on utility sites.

I built it as a developer who got tired of switching between dozens of one-off tool websites — slow pages, ads everywhere, paywalls for basic features — and thought there should be a single clean platform focused on privacy and accessibility.

I’m looking for feedback, feature requests, and contributors. Whether it’s UI improvements, new tool ideas, bug reports, or even helping write better titles/descriptions for SEO and discoverability — I’d appreciate it. I’m open to collaborating and crediting contributors properly.

There are tools for image conversion and compression, document utilities like PDF split and merge, developer tools like beautifiers and regex helpers, networking lookups, hashers, QR/barcode, file conversion, and many more.

If you’re interested:

Live site: https://nytm.in
Repository: https://github.com/nityam2007/nytm-multitools
Email: hello@nytm.in