Thanks for the recommendations, will look into wireguard first

Oh yeah, that is true. Mini PC has a proper ssd nvme.

Thanks for the feedback! Will look at the NAS you recommend, but i thik i want more freedom to tinker. Will definitely look into proxmox!

Thanks for the feedback! And yes, used mini pc can be found cheaper than rpi5, also comes with a proper cooling and housing, which would be extra for rpi.

Thanks for the feedback! Had similar problems with a raspberry pi. It cannot deliver enough power to the hdd, so it kept rebooting the drive.

NAS, perhaps apps like vaultwarden, nextcloud, immich, maybe grafana for sensors… I am not 100% sure as this would be the first.