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Websites that look like desktop GUIs

simone.computer

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Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#151

Post by paws »

sjwright wrote: post #120

I'm endlessly impressed at how good Synology's DSM interface is. The experience is so incredibly seamless in all the important ways. And it's not just a gimmick—all of the benefits of draggable, resizable windows are there: you can drag files between folders, you can open multiple settings windows at the same time, and so on. There's a live demo: https://demo.synology.com/en-global/dsm

FYI all that draggable/resizable stuff comes from Ext.JS

https://examples.sencha.com/extjs/7.1.0/examples/kitchensink...

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#152

Post by paws »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144
nolok wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. DSM is basically the reason to buy synology over competitors : you pay almost twice the price the hardware is worth, and in exchange you get their top notch software and support.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

I don't see myself buying a Synology again.

I didn't want to use mine as 'just a NAS' and was hoping the Linux+ssh they ship would allow that, but it hasn't gone as I had in mind. Certain things I wanted require jumping through weird extra hoops, and system decisions I don't particularly agree with are just imposed. The toolchain generally seems quite dated, the kernel is from 2017 (v4.4.59+) and to me their proprietary package format (.spk) seems pointless given we already had apt-get/etc. I saw back in December they deprecated DDSM, also DSM7 was delayed, still not out and that was before Corona so who knows now.

If you wanted the option to spin down your disks, sorry, it's evidently impossible b/c Synology requires you to use their partition layout which dumps their OS partition onto all your data disks. My needs are low write/high read & I would have preferred installing the OS on a dedicated SSD. In fact I paid extra for a '+' Syno with SSD slots, but whoops, too bad the slots can't be used for a bootable OS because there's no BIOS. So something, probably log file appends for services I don't care about are why my data disks spinning 24/7. Maybe that's good for Syno's support costs but it's not great for me.

Why not install Ubuntu you might ask? Sorry, not possible == no BIOS.

I know plenty of people love their Synos -- if it works for you, great. Just one guy's opinion. If you need a NAS for 'just' file serving then you might well be OK.

But if you want to do anything beyond the surface, I suggest looking elsewhere.

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#153

Post by luckman212 »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144
nolok wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. DSM is basically the reason to buy synology over competitors : you pay almost twice the price the hardware is worth, and in exchange you get their top notch software and support.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

Synology is great. I've got a 2012 model still chugging away in my closet with no signs of stopping. I can probably count the number of times I've had to reboot it on my 2 hands. Very reliable. I just wish they would put slightly more powerful CPUs in their lineup.

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#154

Post by theintern »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144
nolok wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. DSM is basically the reason to buy synology over competitors : you pay almost twice the price the hardware is worth, and in exchange you get their top notch software and support.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

You can create your own DSM powered NAS using Xpenology to load the DSM software on normal hardware.

It's more fiddling but you can get a very powerful NAS very cheaply this way.

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#155

Post by sjwright »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144
nolok wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. DSM is basically the reason to buy synology over competitors : you pay almost twice the price the hardware is worth, and in exchange you get their top notch software and support.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

If the idea of adding more to your duties as a recreational sysadmin doesn't excite you, a Synology is fantastic. And there's quite an extensive array of app packages you can run on them with nice interfaces.

However if you're looking at doing more than basic storage, you might want to look at something like FreeNAS, Proxmox or Unraid. I've no experience with any of these but if you're wanting to do a lot of app containers for stuff like databases, media servers, home automation, Unifi Controller, download managers etc, these might make more sense.

I personally run a dozen docker containers on my Intel CPU Synology, but I wouldn't describe it as a seamless experience. I do 99% of the docker administration from the terminal (via ssh to the nas) and maintain it with custom shell scripts. I'm very happy with the outcome as I get the benefits of Synology (Hyper Backup being a particular highlight) and docker containers running on hardware that was running 24/7 anyway.

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#156

Post by sjwright »

theintern wrote: post #154
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

You can create your own DSM powered NAS using Xpenology to load the DSM software on normal hardware. It's more fiddling but you can get a very powerful NAS very cheaply this way.

Xpenology is like a hackintosh. Once it's running you get 98% of the day-to-day experience, but not the absolute seamlessness of everything working without hacky installation steps, rough edges and questionable ethics vis a vis software licensing.

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#157

Post by sjwright »

paws wrote: post #152
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

I don't see myself buying a Synology again. I didn't want to use mine as 'just a NAS' and was hoping the Linux+ssh they ship would allow that, but it hasn't gone as I had in mind. Certain things I wanted require jumping through weird extra hoops, and system decisions I don't particularly agree with are just imposed. The toolchain generally seems quite dated, the kernel is from 2017 (v4.4.59+) and to me their propriet…

If you're not prepared to do everything the "Synology" way (most of which is perfectly fine) then a Synology isn't for you.

I personally am very happy with my Synology doing mostly file serving, and I use docker to run as much custom packages as I can. It's not completely seamless but it works well for me. And I really value many parts of the Synology hardware and software.

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#158

Post by paws »

sjwright wrote: post #155
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

If the idea of adding more to your duties as a recreational sysadmin doesn't excite you, a Synology is fantastic. And there's quite an extensive array of app packages you can run on them with nice interfaces. However if you're looking at doing more than basic storage, you might want to look at something like FreeNAS, Proxmox or Unraid. I've no experience with any of these but if you're wanting to do a lot of app cont…

Curious what about Hyper Backup do you like the most?

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#159

Post by lioeters »

aldanor wrote: post #149
winrid wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GitHub Desktop is actually pretty awesome. What I don't get is why MongoDB Compass is so slow. It's almost like they have artificial timeouts everywhere.

Disagreed, at least on Mac, while there are (free) apps like Fork.

Fork is wonderful, a well-designed and performant Git GUI, native on each platform (Windows and macOS).

https://fork.dev/

I bought a license a while back, since I use it every day. That said, I believe they're moving towards a "trial" model, rather than "free" as in beer.

I do wish it was open sourced, but also wish them the best in making it a profitable venture. It's great software, it deserves good funding so the creators and users can benefit from it.

Re: Websites that look like desktop GUIs

#160

Post by sjwright »

luckman212 wrote: post #153
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am lowkey thinking of setting up a NAS / inhouse server, on the one hand I can build something myself but OTOH I'm hearing nothing but glowing reviews about Synology.

Synology is great. I've got a 2012 model still chugging away in my closet with no signs of stopping. I can probably count the number of times I've had to reboot it on my 2 hands. Very reliable. I just wish they would put slightly more powerful CPUs in their lineup.

I have a 2018 model.

But I also have a 2011 model that is still chugging away. I'd still be using it today as my main NAS except I wanted to get a second NAS to act as a physically separated, mostly cold backup. The old one is now a Hyper Backup target for the new one, and I have it on a power schedule so that it spends 99% of the time completely switched off.

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