Hello fellow selfhosters! I have a laptop and a tablet (both running endeavourOS), and I want a certain folder to be always in sync. I also have a very potato server.
My two options currently are Nextcloud and Syncthing. The laptop and the tablet are rarely online at the same time, so I need the server as middleman (so, no syncthing laptop <-> tablet, but laptop <-> server <-> tablet).

Which one do you recommend? The power consumption (of the client) is also very important, because both the laptop and the tablet are battery-powered

I’m also open to other options as well!

thanks in advance to everyone!

Edit: thanks to everyone for your precious help! I finally set up syncthing and it’s working flawlessly!

  • gfle@szmer.infoEnglish
    2·
    5 months ago

    I personally switched from NextCloud to Syncthing.

    Syncthing:

    • is easier for me to maintain,
    • allows for the “server” to be behind NAT,
    • lets me have multiple “servers” at the same time (eg. something at home and a VPS)
    • lets me have certain “servers” set as untrusted, so all data on them is encrypted, while others can have it unencrypted for easier access I put “server” in quotes, as Syncthing doesn’t really have a server, all clients are equal peers.

    On the other hand, NextCloud:

    • gives me a way to share files by link with others,
    • lets me browse files via a web interface,
    • mobile app lets me access files as I need them instead of having to synchronize everything.
  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    1·
    5 months ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Fewer Letters More Letters
    HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web
    NAT Network Address Translation
    SBC Single-Board Computer
    VPS Virtual Private Server (opposed to shared hosting)
    nginx Popular HTTP server

    4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 5 acronyms.

    [Thread #805 for this sub, first seen 15th Jun 2024, 13:15] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

  • Nibodhika@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    5 months ago

    They are very different things. If all of the places where you want to access the data have storage large enough to accommodate all of it syncthing is probably easier. If however you also want to access the data from your phone, then syncthing won’t work, because it will sync the entire folder to your phone, there’s no way to use it like you would Nextcloud, i.e. only downloading things as you need them.

    • t0fr@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      5 months ago

      I use SyncThing on all my computers with my phone. I’ve setup my phone to just not sync certain folders with Ignore Patterns

  • N0x0n@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    5 months ago

    Nextcloud and syncthing a 2 different things. While synching keeps your files synchronized between your devices, nextcloud is a cloud platforme which gives you access to your files on your server. The difference is actually very important even though a lot would argue that they are the same.

    It really depends what type of technology you want/need. I would recommended syncthing for it’s simplicity and robustness. It only does one thing but it does it very well !!

    To give you an example, I have a syncthing sever which is a middleman for my Zotero database. Laptop &lt;-> Server (syncthing) &lt;-> desktop. It’s very important to keep it in sync for the integrity of the zotero database !

    This kind of workflow wouldn’t work with nextcloud or rather will most of the time corrupt my database.

    Nextcloud works as a simple cloud platforme wich is also great (with it’s up and downs) but works only as a cloud platforme to keep your files on your server.