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TrueNAS, Unraid and Synology DSM are operating systems built around storage. They manage disks, pools or arrays, shares, snapshots and data protection, and they also run apps and virtual machines.

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What they do well

  • TrueNAS is built on the ZFS file system. It is a strong choice for pooled storage with checksums, snapshots and replication.
  • Unraid lets you mix disks of different sizes in one array and run containers and virtual machines on the same machine. It is a commercial product.
  • Synology DSM comes with Synology hardware. It is a polished system with a wide set of built-in packages for files, photos and backup.
If you need disk pools and RAID, choose one of these. kombify does not manage disks, RAID or storage pools, and it does not try to.

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What kombify is

kombify defines the homelab in a declarative file. StackKits plans, applies and verifies it on a Linux host. Sign-in with passkeys through Pocket ID, an access policy per service, routing, backup and updates come with the definition. Techstack operates it.

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How they relate

A NAS system and kombify answer different questions. The NAS system answers where your data lives and how it is protected at the disk level. kombify answers how the services on top are defined, signed into, reached and backed up. kombify can run on a Linux host or in a VM that uses storage from a NAS.

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Limits of kombify today

  • kombify is before 1.0 and releases often.
  • Compatibility is still being verified. See OS compatibility for the current rows.
  • There is no boot image. Installation needs a prepared Linux host and one command.
  • The catalog is curated and listed in the use-case catalog. It has no Plex and no Sonarr or Radarr family.
  • Bringing your own Compose project under the homelab’s sign-in, routing and backup is not implemented.
  • Connected and Managed by kombify are in preview.

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What kombify does today

  • Passkey sign-in through Pocket ID, no default passwords.
  • An explicit access policy per service.
  • Restore into an isolated staging copy.
  • Updates that take a snapshot first.
  • Plan, apply and verify from one definition.
  • A local MCP server on every install for your own AI agent.
  • The same definition for a server at home and one in the cloud.

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When to choose which

  • Choose TrueNAS, Unraid or Synology if storage is your main need, or if you want one box that holds your data and runs a few apps.
  • Choose kombify if you want the services defined, repeatable and readable by your own AI agent.
  • Use them together if you keep data on a NAS and run the services on a separate host defined with kombify. Back up as the backup guide describes, and practise a restore.
Last reviewed: 2026-11-10