added moving away from nextcloud post and skeleton of moving to germany.

This commit is contained in:
Gabe Venberg 2024-08-05 22:11:37 -05:00
parent 509b212c83
commit 6e6d7c21c6
2 changed files with 44 additions and 24 deletions

View file

@ -1,30 +1,37 @@
+++ +++
title = "Syncthing" title = "Moving away from Nextcloud"
date = 2022-03-10T01:33:59-05:00 date = 2024-08-05T01:33:59-05:00
draft = true draft = true
+++ +++
## Nextcloud
While Nextcloud had a lot of features and provides a nice web interface,
(I got a lot of use out of Nextcloud's caldav server)
I kept running into problems and limitations with it.
One thing is maintenance. Of my entire homelab,
I easily spent the most time troubleshooting and fixing Nextcloud,
sometimes having to reboot the VM multiple times per week.
Additionally, I've ran into a few annoying limitations,
such as the sever crashing if you view a folder with too many files in the web interface or apps.
Nextcloud does a lot of things, and does things very well,
but I would not describe it as a rock solid piece of software.
Due to this, during our [move to germany](./movingToGermany) and the resuling reorganization of the homelab,
I decided to *finally* ditch Nextcloud, after talking about it for months.
## Syncthing
[Syncthing](https://syncthing.net/) is one of the best file syncing tools in existence, [Syncthing](https://syncthing.net/) is one of the best file syncing tools in existence,
and I don't say that lightly. and I don't say that lightly.
Syncthing is a distributed, peer to peer file syncing service. Syncthing is a distributed, peer to peer file syncing service.
This means that it doesn't rely on a central, always online server ran by you or someone else, This means that it doesn't rely on a central, always online server ran by you or someone else,
but that your devices directly send files between themselves whenever they are online at the same time. but that your devices directly send files between themselves whenever they are online at the same time.
I used Syncthing to replace Nextclouds file syncing.
## Syncthing vs Nextcloud ### Syncthing vs Nextcloud
I use both Syncthing and Nextcloud for data storage and syncing, Unlike Nextcloud, Syncthing has no web file manager,
and while Nextcloud has a lot of features and provides a nice web interface,
(I get a lot of use out of Nextcloud's caldav server)
I keep running into problems and limitations with it.
One thing is maintenance. Of my entire homelab,
I easily spend the most time troubleshooting and fixing Nextcloud,
sometimes having to reboot the VM multiple times per week.
Additionally, I've ran into a few annoying limitations more than once,
such as the sever crashing if you view a folder with too many files in the web interface or apps.
Nextcloud does a lot of things, and does things very well,
but I would not describe it as a rock solid piece of software.
Syncthing, on the other hand, has no web file manager,
does not do caldav or any of the other million things you can do with Nextcloud apps, does not do caldav or any of the other million things you can do with Nextcloud apps,
and requires setup on both ends to setup a syncing connection. and requires setup on both ends to setup a syncing connection.
In short, Syncthing does only one thing. In short, Syncthing does only one thing.
@ -35,12 +42,7 @@ Even with a device like my phone,
constantly loosing and regaining network access, constantly loosing and regaining network access,
files have synced perfectly, every time. files have synced perfectly, every time.
While all my files are stored on my Nextcloud server, ### Distributed?
for folders with large number of files,
I only have one device syncing with Nextcloud,
and all other devices use Syncthing to sync with the device connected to Nextcloud.
## Distributed?
With Dropbox or Google drive, files are not sent directly between your devices, With Dropbox or Google drive, files are not sent directly between your devices,
but are sent from one device to the server, but are sent from one device to the server,
@ -52,11 +54,22 @@ Instead, devices all connect to each other, sending changes made on one device t
This makes all of your devices into a cluster, where no device has to always be online, This makes all of your devices into a cluster, where no device has to always be online,
but any devices that happen to be online at the same time synchronize while they can. but any devices that happen to be online at the same time synchronize while they can.
## Introducers ### Introducers
If you have a lot of devices, making sure every device is connected to every other device can become a hassle. If you have a lot of devices, making sure every device is connected to every other device can become a hassle.
Thankfully, Syncthing has the concept of 'introducer' devices. Thankfully, Syncthing has the concept of 'introducer' devices.
In short, With an introducer, you only need to connect your devices to the introducer, In short, With an introducer, you only need to connect your devices to the introducer,
and the introducer will make connections between any devices that share the same folder with the introducer. and the introducer will make connections between any devices that share the same folder with the introducer.
This is very useful, for example, to enable for a always online storage server, This is very useful, for example, to enable for a always online storage server,
an architecture that I plan to implement in the future if I ever get around to moving away from Nextcloud. and it is the architecture that I used to fully replace nextcloud.
## File Manager
## Radicale
The final function my family and I used nextcloud for was calander and todo list syncing.
This was done over Nextclouds CalDav server,
using DavX^5 as a mobile client, and Thunderbirds Lightning plugin as a desktop client.
This was almost a more important function than filesyncing, as my wife and I use it to organize our calanders,
Keep shopping lists, chore lists, lists of movies to watch, lists of long term projects, etc.
(we *really* used the hell out of todo lists.)

View file

@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
---
title: "Moving To Germany"
date: 2024-08-05T22:10:32-05:00
draft: true
---
## TODO