Patrick Campanale has been within the tech scheme for smartly over a decade, focusing on PC/gaming news and reviews, apart from to maker-focused products to manufacture diminutive agencies.
With a initiating in skills back in 2010 surrounding the Palm/webOS ecosystem, Patrick spent his formative years developing mobile gains apart from to running a blog for assorted publications, indirectly leading to starting his have web space in 2014. After running a skills weblog for a couple of years, he stepped out of that characteristic and into the area of high-spoil customized PC manufacturing and constructing, with a degree of interest on YouTube video manufacturing and overclocking. Then, six years within the past, Patrick joined the 9to5Toys crew as an editor/author/reviewer with over 14,000 articles being printed there there, starting from deals and roundups to in-depth reviews on the newest skills, video games, 3D printers, and extra.
In his free time, Patrick loves to develop initiatives from wooden the usage of assorted robots and suggestions, alongside side leveraging the applied sciences of CNCs and lasers. If Patrick is now not engaged on a laptop or taking part in video games, he’s probably in his 2-automobile storage workshop creating something real. As well to to all this, Patrick is additionally a formative years pastor at his local church the put he feels God has called him to aid, and he loves every minute of it.
I old school Unraid as my simplest home server platform for nearly 5 years sooner than I determined to jump ship to a venerable Linux distro. Unraid was once silent working smartly for me, however there had been correct one or two issues it didn’t excel at, and those areas are correct the put Ubuntu shines.
Unraid old school to be the heart of my homelab
It handled storage, Docker, and digital machines
After I first began my most newest homelab back in 2021, it was once all centered around one machine: my Lenovo RD440 rack-mount server running Unraid. It did the entirety for me. It was once my storage server, digital machine design, and Docker host.
I had one design and it if truth be told handled my needs correct ravishing. I used to be once in actuality critically shocked at how smartly Unraid handled being a jack-of-all-trades working design. At the time, TrueNAS didn’t provide Docker enhance in a real model of its working design fancy it does as we narrate, and the jails that it did enjoy had been nowhere near as capable as Docker on Unraid.
So, I settled on the usage of Unraid for the entirety. In fact, I’m pleased I did. I had never old school Docker sooner than Unraid and the NAS working design helped me derive old school to Docker with a easy-to-utilize interface that’s extra radiant to like than attempting to dive headfirst into something fancy Docker Create or even Docker CLI.
Alternatively, over time, Unraid began to now not resolve the an analogous pain for me because it once did. I began wanting extra out of my Docker containers, and, though I could well presumably maybe enact most issues in Unraid, it made it unreasonably complex in a whole lot of areas to develop issues. So, I determined I could well presumably maybe behold into assorted alternatives.
Perfect on yarn of an OS can develop something would now not imply it may well maybe presumably maybe silent
Docker is easy to make utilize of on Unraid…for supported containers
It was once the starting put of 2025 after I began to behold at selections to Unraid—now not for storage administration, however for homelab administration. What I ended up realizing is that Unraid is a not probably storage platform, however it with out a doubt’s now not the most life like at assorted issues.
Perfect on yarn of something is a jack-of-all-trades, would now not imply it has to be old school that skill. So I began attempting to hunt down the most life like skill to urge Docker, and I spotted that Unraid was once in actuality maintaining me back.
You seek, Unraid uses something called “app templates.” These templates may well presumably maybe enjoy to silent be submitted by either the neighborhood or the container’s maintainer, however they’re now not automated. So, I began running into Docker containers I wanted to make utilize of that didn’t enjoy an app template, so they had been a undergo to derive running without agonize.
App templates are in actuality if truth be told good and I fancy them, however they’re positively extra limiting. Looking out to adjust one may well presumably maybe be extra stressful than purposeful.
So, after masses of back-and-forth, I ended up settling on going with my ol’ faithful server working design as my Docker host, and it was once one in every of the most life like selections I ever made in my homelab.
Ubuntu equipped me a confirmed design that supports all Docker containers equally
No pre-built app template required
I’ve old school Ubuntu Server for over 15 years at this point, and it is the put I if truth be told feel most at home within the issue line, so it was once a natural fit for me after I wanted to transfer away from Unraid for some homelab gains.
Docker is natively supported on Ubuntu, and it is very handy there. I develop now not enjoy to panic about app templates, as I correct utilize the Docker Create file that nearly about every container already affords. If no Create file is equipped, it is fairly easy to make utilize of either Docker CLI, Portainer, or to correct write my have Create file.
Switching to Ubuntu now not simplest opened the doors for me to urge in most cases any container I wanted, however additionally made my Docker experience skill extra solid.
Section of the difficulty with Unraid is you search the neighborhood repository and may well presumably maybe or may well presumably maybe now not uncover an legit container. Infrequently an legit container is marked legit, in most cases it is now not. Infrequently, I could well presumably maybe look a container and uncover fancy 12 assorted app templates for apparently the an analogous container, and it was once continuously stressful to envision out to hunt down the “best” one.
Nonetheless, when launching the containers without delay from a maintainer’s file or repository, it is easy to hunt down the splendid one. Perfect uncover the GitHub repo that you just enjoy to make utilize of and it is all correct there. I correct uncover locating the splendid maintainer and container extra radiant manually.
Infrequently the most life like ingredient to develop is prick up up your homelab
I know I’ve written about splitting up my homelab within the previous, however I silent stand by the selections wholeheartedly. Infrequently it is merely your most life like choice to put.
My homelab may well presumably maybe enjoy to silent now not enjoy stepped forward to the put it is miles as we narrate if I hadn’t switched away from Unraid to Ubuntu Server back in early 2025 for my Docker containers. That was once the single most life like ingredient I ever did for my homelab.
