Why We Use Syncthing, The Open Source Private File Syncing Tool instead of NextCloud

Amazon Affiliate Store

Gear we used on Kit (affiliate Links)
Try ITProTV free of charge and get 30% off!

Use OfferCode LTSERVICES to get 5% off your order at

Tesla Referral Program Offer

Lawrence Systems Shirts and Swag

Digital Ocean Offer Code

HostiFi UniFi Cloud Hosting Service

Protect you privacy with a VPN from Private Internet Access

Google Fi Service Referral Code

More Of Our Affiliates that help us out and can get you discounts!

Twitter

Patreon

Our Forums

GitHub

Discord

Our Web Site

Setup and Review of SyncThing, The Open Source File synchronization tool

[ansonlin]

Thanks, open source private tools on Linux are what people's needed.

[MorningWon]

I think that NextCloud and Syncthing serve totally different purposes. Syncthing does just what it implies syncs ie replicates. With NextCloud your data stays put but is accessible everywhere you want it over the web, ie a cloud solution. I do not think they are comparable. Maybe some use NextCloud for syncing, but I wouldn't do that.

[StreamingFydave]

I tried to set up syncthing a couple years ago. My folders wouldn't update the original files, only the new files added to the folder. After weeks of trying to different suggestions, reading everything and watching videos to troubleshoot, I gave up and removed it. I probably have the old screenshots around.

I would love if you did a new setup/step by step adding folders, syncing to offsite folder, etc.

[ZhechenZhu]

I used Syncthing for a while. One thing that turned me off is using it on mobile platforms. The problem is that if you want to access any single file in your library, you have to enable sync for the whole library on your phone. That means using a large chunk of your phone storage. With Nextcloud, you don't need to sync the whole library but download files on demand. Still a great tool though.

[CaptainLoony]

This is definitely a good one. Immediately put it in all our devices.

[mithubopensourcelab]

Sir, you are doing great work... Hats off.

[howardcallender]

Thank you for sharing. It would be nice to have a more detailed video!

[NinoMsterChannel]

I decided to use Syncthing because of it's compatibility between devices. I wanted a simple solution to manage backups of all my devices in a single place, and Syncthing gave me that.

[hopeofthewicked]

could it be that i found a replacement for google drive? more than anything i would like to know if syncthing includes software to do a search on my files so i could actually locate them? thanx in advance for your reply

[Rickety]

Sudo, ssh, cd, ping, ls. Sounds about right to me! LOL

[HavocHire]

What about a program for sharing files to a group and allowing them to download files they need and keep folders updated when a core group updates them while utilizing torrent style syncing. Mainly for sharing tech manuals and drawings and stuff that do not have any secrecy for it.

[Kurt]

Hi,
I started now using SyncThing to backup a folder (and sub-folders) from my Android device (send only) to my Synology NAS (receive only).

Everything works fine but i can figure it out (note: noob here ☺️) how can i access the SyncThing GUI on the browser remotely (the sync process works fine. Also, i reserved my NAS ip address on my ISP router).

Can you tell me what changes i have to make on the GUI settings and also if i can use my Synology DDNS?

Thanks

[nadpul]

I tried using it with large files (several GB) and it failed miserably, syncing VM data also fails. Any thoughts?

[saywhat]

I’ll go to the SyncThing site for my answer but you might want to mention whether this is a real-time only syncing solution where both ends have to be up and running or whether it has a store-n-forward syncing ability. I would assume not since that creates some complexity for the sake of features at the expense of security but is important for not always on devices that require use of a snapshot ability.

[genkiferal]

It was super easy to sync up all of my devices- all 5 in 20 minutes or less- without watching or reading how. I am going to use it. But, I have some security concerns: 1) keeping our files for 30 days? where? I have concerns about that. 2) why wouldn't the Syncthing apps on either phone allow me to use the QR scanners I already had installed in my phone? i even shared one scanned pic to the app, but my phones' app still demanded I download a QR scanner. I chose F-Droid on both phones and oddly, enough, instead of being given the usual choice of 3 to 5 QR scanners (I installed the others 2 weeks ago, so remember), one was selected FOR me without my even really seeing the F-Droid site . VERY odd. Of course, that scanner insisted on having full permissions to all of my files. The name on the app was CHinese and that means nothing. But, I think you guys should test it out using Google Play store instead. The QR scanner logo/icon has a red thing across the middle of a SKU code...not the usual QR code icon.

[mikecedev]

Your video synching example raises an interesting question: for large media work (audio, photography) I'm using iCloud to sync between devices; I really like that on my MacBook, which has limited storage, I can select "Remove Download" on local files when I'm done with an editing project and that erases the files from my laptop's storage but keeps them in iCloud (and other devices) so I can pull them down again if I need to. Is there an equivalent to that in Syncthing (or NextCloud) and is it easy to use from Finder/Explorer or does it require running CLI commands? Thanks!

[nycsaba]

To reduce the attack surface you can put NextCloud behind a VPN. I do the same and even firewalled it to block outgoing connections from the device running NextCloud (whitelisted a few mirrors for the os updates and that's it)

[gjkrisa]

Man this is a lot to take in trying to figure out the cheapest way to get photos backed up from iPhone onto local server and then I want a secure way to view them from outside the network but using an app that is similar to google photos
So should I run a Freenas server that runs sync thing on that or next cloud or windows vm that’s running sync thing or something else lots of avenues I can go down now

[MrYamaharider]

I need some help. I am trying to get files moved from ruTorrent to a Synology NAS server using Syncthing. I am lost, and I can't find any tutorials or help. Can anyone give me any direction of how to easily move files once completed to a Synology NAS?

Thank you in advance!

[sherlockholmes]

The problem with Syncthing is using it in a server-client scenario. I know this is not the intention, but the developer of freeNAS would make you think so as it's one of their offered plugins. If you're using it for multiple users, the freeNAS admin can see everyone else's synced data. It's fine for one-person use, but hey, then you don't really need a freeNAS "server" go-between. Tom has done a video of using Syncthing on freeNAS. I just find it kind of useless with that setup. There may be something I'm missing. Someone please enlighten me, if this is the case. I'd really like to get it setup so my home users can rest assured that I can't see their data.