Administration control
Who’s in charge of this thing anyway?
Dexterity is a critical aspect of any server software. We like our software to have reasonable defaults so that you can begin using them straight away after deployment. But in the long run we’d want it to give us control to make it fit into our existing network infrastructure, as well as to tweak its behaviour to match our changing requirements.
Again, SparkleShare stands out in that it requires editing configuration files using a text editor. You can override some default configuration options by putting them in the config.xml found in the hidden ~/.config/sparkleshare/ folder. Syncthing is marginally better and its daemon offers a handful of essential configurable options. You can, for example, lock access to the web UI with a username and password, limit the rate for transfers, and use HTTPS for the web UI.
Besides these options, the other three offer extensive configurable parameters. From Seafile’s administration section you can monitor various aspects of the installation including information about the connected desktop and mobile clients. It exposes just enough settings so as to not overwhelm a first-time user while still satisfying the needs of the administrator for a decent-sized network. You can change the logo, define a custom password policy, segregate users into groups and send system-wide notifications to all users.
Pydio features an extensive categorised configuration interface. As a Pydio administrator you can review logs, update the installation to the latest version, and install new plugins. You can also configure associated server tasks such as the ability to send emails and schedule cron jobs. One of Pydio’s unique features is the access control roles. You can edit the existing ones and create new ones from within the administration section. In Nextcloud the configurable parameters are also divided logically into a dozen categories. These expand as you add more apps that come with their own configurable parameters. You can do everything from customising the look of your Nextcloud installation to fine-tuning the sharing behaviour and defining a password policy. In the latest version, admins can now impersonate another user thanks to the Impersonate App, which helps solve user problems.