Check out Lima, the brain for all of your devices (pictures)

Lima is a tiny device that will let you create your own personal cloud, using your home network and an external hard drive.

It's fairly pricey at $149 (roughly £100 or AU$185), especially in light of the bevy of free or cheap cloud options that are already on the market. But simple installation and easy expansion -- just add more drives -- could make it a good fit for the right person.

You can connect a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 storage device by way of this USB port. If you've got a USB hub, you can connect multiple drives -- the Lima can handle up to 8TB of storage.

The Lima stays at home, connected to your network by way of an Ethernet jack. You'll be able to access files from any iOS or Android device, or Mac or Windows PC, that has the Lima app installed. The amount of storage you've connected to your Lima determines your total capacity.

The Lima app has a number of built-in tools to intelligently sift through your media. A photo viewer displays images, while music and video players let you stream your stuff wherever you are. There's also a Web app, if you aren't near one of your devices.

The Lima will start shipping in 2015. It's going out to a select group of Kickstarter backers first, in a limited beta, but is currently available for pre-order.