Hi,
I’m new here and dont know a lot about Blynk. Can anyone give me tutorial how to create my own Blynk server?
Do I have to use my own PC or VPS? Cant I use like GOOGLE DRIVE or DROPBOX for my server?
Thanks for any information.
Either, depends what your plans are for Blynk.
Needs to be a cloud or local server that runs Java.
From a few dollars to a few thousand dollars, you decide.
I want control my arduino not using my computer as server.
If I use computer as server computer should be ON all the time, so this is not good for me.
VPS is good but I have to pay for it, so maybe there is possible to do the same only with clouds?
Cloud servers for Blynk start from less than $2 per month but you will need to know how to manage the server.
Local servers, if port forwarding is available for you, can be purchased outright for less than $20 (Pi zero, SD card, WiFi and OTG). If you are new to the Pi’s I would splash out on a Pi 3 for around $40.
Electricity around $5 per annum for a Pi server.
Again you will need to learn how to manage the server.
can you give me more information cloud servers for Blynk and how to manage them?
Pi zero is good solution but still dont know how it works.
If I create my own server do I have still buy more ENERGY or it is only in Blynk server?
Probably I cant use my arduino ethernet shield SD slot to put all Blynk server?
So, the conclusion is: there is ALWAYS something, you need to pay for 
There’s little in this world today completely free.
And back to topic: I’m using Orange Pi with Armbian, these are cheaper than RPI and works good. The only drawback for me was a little painful installation of Oracle Java (i’m noob in LINUX environment) but there is a step by step manual in the web, so it is possible to do it without knowing linux at all. By the way OpenJDK is really slower…
@marvin7 I looked into the Orange Pi’s recently.
Could you and perhaps other “O” users indicate how they differ from the “real thing”?
Don’t get me started with the “free” stuff as most people around the world aren’t charity workers
Paying is not the problem, problem is that I dont want to pay over and over. I can pay one time, get what I need and forget about it.
If I buy ENERGY form Blynk server and after 7 years they can close all servers I lost all connection to my arduino. So I want have system not associated with anyone, so paying is not the problem.
I’m not sure I understood the question in the right way 
But they perform well as a little computer running Linux. Armbian is well optimized and had not a single issue since it started running at the beginning of the year. The only issues I had is an OpenJDK environment (some strange errors, sluggish web interface and “sleeping” history graphs) . I know that for now OPIs have far worse support than RPi when it comes to direct GPIO’s operations, but it is supported, just not as well as RPIs. As a note: I bought an OPI One for testing, and left Blynk at it, leaving RPI3 for testing/playing with
he, he… Sure, but sometimes I’m just positively surprised 
@ammygo: I have none experience in cloud based servers, I’m running local on OPi without issue (at least till now), and because I successfully run it on OPI (~10$ with shipping), personally I can recommend them as a server for BLYNK, SAMBA (taking into account 100Mbit LAN limitation), etc…
Thanks for the OPi review @marvin7
I did spend time looking at them but I was a bit confused about all the different types. We like to watch TV with our Pi’s and when I started looking at the higher spec OPi’s they didn’t look much different in price to the real thing. Zero’s make good IPTV’s for $5 plus a few bits and are fine as Blynk servers.
For me it also comes down to the overall support, not just GPIO’s. Raspberry Pi has an excellent support network with 11 million users. I also like the fact that the Foundation is a Charity rather than a commercial enterprise.
I was confused too, that is why I bought the cheapest one with hdmi out (the cheapest Zero has only CVBS but as a bonus there is wifi). Naturally hdmi is not used now, but I didn’t know it will eventually end as a little server. Community support is not that bad, but it is actually the only one you can get- chinese manufacturer released some images, and I even tested one of them - worked, but I read they are not safe to use, so not using ;)…
I run the OpenElec on OPI One too- worked well with hw acceleration, but it was just for testing. If you have time - just grab one of the cheapest, and play a bit
So what is the price (make and model) of OPi with HDMI and WiFi (or USB port for WiFi dongle)?
OPI Lite has Wifi and HDMI (~12$) and 3 USB’s (2 full sized A-type) BUT NO ETHERNET!. OPI One (~10$) has no Wifi and 2 USB’s (1 full sized A-type) BUT HAS ETHERNET- both share the same “core” (quad core H3 with 512MB RAM). “Compilation” of both above is the OPI PC with 4-USB-s and 1G RAM.
SO if you need HDMI and WiFi it’s the LITE for ~12$
Just one more: Next i gonna buy the OPI PC2 H5 64bit with different CPU and 1Gbit ethernet for $20. Not that i need it - just for little playing with 
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Any other cloud server (aside from blynk-cloud.com) is just someone else’s hardware that you still have to setup and manage… go for something like the Pi3, then it is all yours to setup and manage (including your own energy allocation). http://docs.blynk.cc/#blynk-server
Arduino will NOT work, as Local Server requires Java to run… get a Pi, any one will do (well, almost any one… At least get one that has Ethernet or WiFi built in, otherwise you need to also purchase extra adapter dongles, network adapters, etc.)
I got a bunch of OPi’s here (Zero and One’s). haven’t got Android running yet, but a friend has and he’s very satisfied. The Zero has, as mentioned I think, a wifi and 10/100 interface, but no HDMI out, just TV out. The One only has 10/100 ethernet, so that’s a choice to make, but it has HDMI, so that would make a good Mediastreamer next to the TV I guess.
I’m probably gonna build a dedicated small Blynk server or maybe a tiny cluster for demonstrating purpose (cluster in a shoebox, lol).
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As long as @ammygo understands that you are referring to the Orange Pi Zero and not the Raspberry Pi Zero… which has zero 
networking interfaces built in… trap for new players!
Thanks for strait answer GUNNER!
I take youre advice and first try to play with PI3.
Later then I understand PI3 I look for other PI or maby OPI.
How to convert local server into a cloud server???
If seever is running on pi
What do you mean by “convert” ? Do you want to start running it on Blynk’s own server or do you want to setup a VPS, do you want to access local server from Internet … ?