I use Traefik because it solved a problem with the static configuration approach which Nginx had / still has.

In a scenario with multiple services behind Nginx, taking one down or replacing an instance is massive headache. I tried to script around it, but basically the Nginx container would choke on the fact that a service does not [yet / anymore] exist, and together with the docker networking stack it turned out to be an insurmountable problem.

Traefik otoh discovers services based on (in my case) labels on the docker containers running locally. And then updates the configuration on the fly.

Basically the static approach to configuration resulted in massive headache when I needed to enable zero downtime deployments and updates behind Nginx. And Traefik handled it perfectly without dropping a single request.

Nowadays I manage my dynamic configuration with ansible and update the values in for the file-based configuration provider with a playbook. I don’t need a UI to manage my inventory, I use ansible for that. Traefik handles the rest perfectly.

Traefik does auto discovery and you can register different configuration providers. Don’t need docker? Then don’t use the docker label-based provider. It is really flexible and has sensible defaults. Other than a few quirks in the basic auth support I haven’t had any problems. And at work it powers our globally utilized infrastructure without any hiccups.

I’m also using ansible everywhere in my home / private infra and lab. Occasionally I get slightly annoyed that I have to open an inventory file or a role var to find something. But in general I’m so grateful that there is one place to find this information, and the same is used to set up everything from scratch.

Is it extra work to write the roles and playbooks? Yes. Does it solve the documentation and automation problem completely? Absolutely. 10/10 would recommend. And for the record, most things I host run on containers, but the volumes and permission management alone make it worth your time.

I was considering grabbing a last minute legacy license, but I really don’t have a use case for unraid. I need a NAS for storage and a few VMs. And my apps run on generic SBCs or NUCs which I manage through ssh/ansible. So yeah, TrueNAS it is for me as well.

You are not far off. In my previous project we attempted to rewrite a desktop app and we started with a skeleton crew. Hiring for the frontend was tough, we got one very good xaml (wpf / winui etc) dev in the first year. Then, in the middle of the corona lockdowns, for 12 months we kept only getting mediocre candidates from across the world, with no relevant experience whatsoever. Then we found our second full time frontend dev, who only stayed 3 months and once he saw how clueless management is, bolted.

Funnily enough the aforementioned manager experts started asking what’s wrong and why we ‘fail to fill the positions’. We were stuck in the native desktop world product-wise, an unattractive and challenging tech stack with difficult problems to solve, with poor management and low budget. That’s what was up. Now I’m happily working on the backend / web / cloud side of things and I’m definitely not looking back or picking up another tech lead position for a project with non existent team to start with. /o\

I am very happy with my Pocketbook. Can easily install koreader (an ebook reader app) and connecting to a calibre server on my local network works very well.

Ansible everything and automate as you go. It is slower, but if it’s not your first time setting something up it’s not too bad. Right now I literally couldn’t care less if the SD on one of my raspberry pi’s dies. Or my monitoring backend needs to be reinstalled.