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hi josh,
i ended up building my own home server using Truenas Scale operating system (proxmox is another option). Truenas Scale allows containers, setting up SMB / storage, virtual machines etc. I have 2x16tb hdd's in a mirrored configuration (plus a couple of ssds for non storage purposes). I store astro files on there, as well as media which I can stream anywhere in the house. I also run pihole (recursive dns server / network wide ad blocking), as well as nextcloud mostly for the purpose of backing up phone photos (no google/apple needed for cloud storage - just make your own cloud) (and have also run a Valheim game server from the system).
As I'm mostly on linux i have put aside one Windows 10 VM which is run through the server - with a gpu passthrough for any windows apps I might decide to use. Access to the VM is easy done through Sunshine (host) / Moonlight (client) applications (allows high refresh rate desktop access - 4k 120hz if your network can handle it).
The SMB shares mean any device on the home network can save to it or copy files to and from it. Anyway it was worth the effort, learnt a lot and I can add more storage / alter the raid configuration when/ifI need to. Just make sure you go for quality NAS HDDs and not the usual domestic HDDs for longevity - they write a lot. Also a cpu with a relatively high core count if you're going to be using it for multiple uses (I used a 5950x w/128gb ddr4 ecc memory, rtx 3090). I'll often find myself processing planetary on the win VM at the same time as my desktop pc to save time.
I'm not a comp dev or anything just a bit of an enthusiast and managed to get it all done without any assistance. Anyway - if you've got some time and are happy to tinker it could be an option.
Cheers
Russ
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