Jail vs Docker? (Running Plexpass, Plexy, Transmission etc...)

[NotMyName]

Hi there

Don't want to look like a complete beginner but I wanted to get an opinion on the best way of managing/running my applications.

It's all started with me just getting my final bits of the hardware for new NAS system (HP Z400, Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU L5640 @ 2.27GHz, 24Gb ECC, 3 X 4GB HDD (IronWolf, WD Red and HGST), FreeNAS-11.1-RELEASE). This is going to be a small home storage solution plus media centre.

One of the first steps I wanted to do was to get my Plex setup so I could test it before starting the migration process and then I've realised there is no plugin for Plex Pass.

I came across this doc (https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...phones-jackett-ombi-transmission-organizr.58/) which provides me with ways of setting up using Shell.

While at the same time I came across this post (https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...s-11-1-rancheros-docker-rancherui-plex.59963/) as I wanted to get Crashplan for business to setup.

So now I'm at the crossroads: Jails or Docker?

I like the second idea of Using RancherOS to manage your Docker as it creates a centralised area (updating and monitoring + any other things) however I'vecomee across one or more posts where people mentioning that Plex has issues/slow to run in the Docker

Could I get a comprehensive look at this from someone who've used both of them and reach some sort of solution?

Thanks in advance.

 

[nightshade00013]

You will see a lot of people prefer different things. For performance with a minimal amount of loss Jails are king. Docker has to be set up in a VM which requires a dedicated amount of CPU and RAM to be given to a VM. That mean that if you over-provision the VM you can hurt performance of the rest of the system. And a jail is simple to update, like so simple it can be done with a script if you want. Otherwise it's a log in to the jail, pkg update && pkg upgrade and done.

And I am not sure about crashplan since they opted to change stuff up but there was a plugin that works with it and that is basically a jail that is pre-setup only requiring some setting changes.

If it can be done in a jail honestly it probably should. We had at one point someone insist that docker was updater sooner than the plex pkg and that isn't the case either, the pkg was on average updated five days sooner than the docker container.

 

[nojohnny101]

If it can be done in a jail honestly it probably should.

This is what I think it really comes down to. Almost all would agree that jails are simpler to setup, easier to maintain, and easier to update. This is especially relevant to FreeNAS as jails have much more documentation/support from the community thank docker currently. This could/will change of course but that is the case now. I think if you can't explicitly list a reason why you need VMs, then stick with jails.

For me, use jails because they are the most efficient way to run the things I want to run. Previously my box was running on a Intel G3258 so I really didn't have the horsepower to run VMs. I have recently replaced the G3258 with a Xeon because I eventually plan to get into VMs, but I'm waiting for the documentation and support to catch up.

 

[Yusuf Limalia]

Pros and Cons to each.

Jails are currently leaner. I presume they share the FreeNAS kernel as well.
The current default offerings are minuscule compared to Docker. But there's lots of resources on starting from a blank jail and just making your own. Never tried it so not sure how complicated it is.
Crashplan for me was a nightmare to maintain in jails. Just because...well.. Java.

Docker is more resource intensive. But its adoption is huge. I've done a post here which details a basic plex install. Have a look and see if it's something you're happy doing. For a container to upgrade you just gotta stop it and start it. I've abandoned RancherUI because it was really making the containers run slow. It's made for highly available, highly scalable implementations that need load balancing etc. But i'm more at home in docker than I am in jails. Your server is well endowed so I don't think it will have a problem resource wise.

Crashplan can go expletive themselves. I will never use them again after the stunt they pulled with CrashPlan for home. there are CrashPlan pro containers however if you must.

 

[NotMyName]

Thank you for your reply.

I will experiment a little bit more with it and figure out where best to place what components/applications.

 

[countach1]

Pros and Cons to each.

Jails are currently leaner. I presume they share the FreeNAS kernel as well.
The current default offerings are minuscule compared to Docker. But there's lots of resources on starting from a blank jail and just making your own. Never tried it so not sure how complicated it is.
Crashplan for me was a nightmare to maintain in jails. Just because...well.. Java.

Docker is more resource intensive. But its adoption is huge. I've done a post here which details a basic plex install. Have a look and see if it's something you're happy doing. For a container to upgrade you just gotta stop it and start it. I've abandoned RancherUI because it was really making the containers run slow. It's made for highly available, highly scalable implementations that need load balancing etc. But i'm more at home in docker than I am in jails. Your server is well endowed so I don't think it will have a problem resource wise.

Crashplan can go expletive themselves. I will never use them again after the stunt they pulled with CrashPlan for home. there are CrashPlan pro containers however if you must.

are you still running docker on your system without RANCHERUI?

 

[Yusuf Limalia]

are you still running docker on your system without RANCHERUI?

yes :)

Just using docker-compose and native docker commands now. Don't see the need for me personally in using RancherUI and the healthchecks etc.

 

[raidflex]

Aside from the initial setup or a particular app not being available as a port, I see no other reason to use docker. Maintenance with a jail is minimal, as stated above a simple pkg update && pkg upgrade is all that is needed. The big difference is no need to micro-manage resources, the apps in my jails use what resources they need to run, with very little overhead. Also you have native hardware acceleration, which can make a big difference with programs like plex while transcoding.

 

[lopr]

I tried the RancherOS thing for having a look into the dockerverse, but I am moving the few services I set up to jails now, since everything in docker is really slow for me.

 

[pschatz100]

To the OP: Don't be defensive about asking a question. This is actually a great question.

Some folks have spent a lot of time and effort documenting their Plex migration to Docker. I appreciate that effort, as I am interested in Docker. But as has been said numerous times, jails are more efficient - and anything that can be run in a jail probably should be (as opposed to a VM or Docker.)

There are lots of apps available for Linux users that are not available for FreeBSD. If one wants to run one of those apps, and there is a Docker image for it, then perhaps that is the way to go. For Plex, the only advantage I can imagine would be if there were features in the Linux version of Plex that were not available in the FreeBSD version. I am not aware of any.

 

[nojohnny101]

For Plex, the only advantage I can imagine would be if there were features in the Linux version of Plex that were not available in the FreeBSD version. I am not aware of any.

There are features not available to plexpass users who install via FreeBSD. The two that I know of when I looked into it are:
- no auto-removal of commercials from recorded tv shows through plex
- no music matching courtesy of gracenote

I still have my plex install in a jail for the reasons stated above.

 

[horizonbrave]

any updated opinion from anyone please? thanks :)

 

[otpi]

For 11.2 it's plugin (jail) all the way. There is one for plex pass, and one without. Although I still use the one without plex pass even with my account plex pass account. The only difference is the plex version. The one without plex pass lags behind.

https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/plex-server-update-for-dummies.76892/

 

[pschatz100]

Jails have gotten better under the recent versions of FreeNAS. AS I said before: anything that can be run in a jail probably should be (as opposed to a VM or Docker.)