Why Use docker (example of Syncthing) This is the modern, preferred way to run multiple server applications.
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Isolation: Syncthing (and all its files) lives inside a container. It cannot see or mess with any other service (like Jellyfin or your main OS). This is a huge security and stability win.
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Easy Updates: To update Syncthing, you just tell Portainer to “re-pull” the new image and restart the container. It’s a 10-second, one-click process that doesn’t risk breaking other parts of your system.
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Dependency Management: The container includes all the specific libraries Syncthing needs to run. You never have to worry about a system update (e.g.,
sudo apt upgrade) breaking Syncthing. -
Portability & Consistency: Your
docker-compose.ymlfile is a perfect, repeatable recipe. If you ever build a new server, you just re-use that file, and your service is back up in seconds, configured exactly the same way. -
Clean Uninstalls: If you decide you don’t want Syncthing, you just stop and remove the stack in Portainer. It’s 100% gone, with no leftover config files or libraries on your server.
Why use native installs
- Simplicity
- Direct System Integration: The service integrates directly with the host OS. This can make some advanced networking or scripting slightly more straightforward, as you don’t have to “go through” the Docker container layer.
- No Docker Overhead: While Docker’s overhead is extremely minimal (it’s not a VM), a native install uses fractionally fewer resources as there’s no container “wrapper.” This performance difference is negligible on modern hardware.
- No Single Point of Failure: If your Docker service itself were to crash (very rare), it wouldn’t affect a natively installed services.
See Portainer