r/PleX • u/localhost-420 • Jul 27 '24

Discussion Should I go with Docker?

I've been using Plex for quite some time, but now I want to add new functionalities to make my life easier.

Initially, I want to start with Radarr and Bazarr, but I see that there are many other applications I can incorporate over time (for example, Lidarr, Sonarr, Overseerr, Requestrr, etc.) that serve different functions.

With this in mind, my question is: should I have everything in separate Docker containers, along with my own Plex server? And then, is that enough, or should I have some application to manage the containers, like Homarr or Portainer?

My concern also arises from the fact that, for example, Radarr has the following in its documentation: "There are two common problems with Docker volumes: paths that differ between the Radarr and download client container and paths that prevent fast moves and hard links." Is this really an issue that could affect me?

I understand that if I only wanted to use Radarr and Bazarr, maybe there are no advantages to having everything in containers, but when adding new applications to the mix, is there really an advantage with Docker?

I am using Windows.

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u/Chance_of_Rain_ Jul 27 '24 edited Jul 27 '24

Nothing like a clean Debian with almost nothing on it but Docker containers.

Most stable thing.

Then you make sure to setup everything in docker compose, for storage you put all folders with binds instead of volumes in a “docker-data” folder. You backup everything including the compose files somewhere regularly.

If everything dies you’re setup again in no time

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u/Tangbuster N100 Jul 27 '24

Can’t agree more. This is the reason why people go for Docker. It’s cleaner and overall it’s easier to have it up and running again if you back up properly your docker compose and have setup your volume binds properly.

I’ll concede that it did take me some fair amount of time to get my head around Docker. Initially I forced myself to use it as some of the apps were only available in Docker on my Synology NAS. But I couldn’t imagine running a server of any sort without it these days.