walden

I use Backblaze B2. I used to use Restic to do the backing up, but now I use Duplicati. I don’t back everything up, just photos, music, documents and stuff, a couple of important VM images, and that’s about it.

Proxmox is great. It’s Debian based, so you can install Docker directly on it if you want, but I recommend installing a Debian virtual machine and installing Docker there. That way you can manage backups, transfer the whole thing when you upgrade machines, etc.

Consider installing Home Assistant on it if you think home automation would be fun. Home Assistant supports installing containers from their add-on “store”, including AdGuard Home. It’s a good intro into containers, but not as flexible as, say, Debian with Docker.

Debian with Docker is another option. You can install all sorts of stuff with Docker, including Home Assistant. It comes down to personal preference.

My home server is located in our boiler room which sees similar temps. No problems, and the drive temps aren’t too bad.

I’m all for Ethernet when it comes to stability, but wifi is very fast and unless OP is transferring large files, Ethernet is not worth drilling through brick for. I also think it’s not worth looking at external conduit for.

It’s also possible OP is using ISP provided wifi which isn’t as good as the old stuff, or is simply on the wrong channel in a congested area.

If I read this correctly, an ethernet cable will not increase your down/up speed from your ISP.

I like Proxmox. If you’re willing to learn it’s pretty powerful stuff and is mostly managed through the web interface.

That being said, it’s up to you to combine the RAM and run everything on one NUC. That’s probably what I would do. You could also buy another stick of ram to put in the left-over NUC if you decide to use it in the future.

I have an RB5009 rack mounted and I like it. Only buy mikrotik if you are open to a steep learning curve, though.

650w is a lot, and looking at the manual for your UPS I think you’re exceeding the limits. It even explains what a long beep means. RTFM, as they say.

Rack mounted replacements are fun. I got a used APC which works well. I bought replacement batteries for it, so make sure you budget for that. Mine uses 4 of these https://www.osibatteries.com/vision-cp1290-battery-12v-9ah-sealed-rechargeable

I don’t really know about what you’re trying to do, but have you considered a desktop/server to do the computing and using a cheaper laptop to manage it all?

It sounds like a NAS product would be a waste of money for you.

The next step for you is adding more drives, setting up some sort of zfs or RAID array, and setting up automatic remote backups to somewhere like Backblaze.

If that’s a Lack from IKEA, you can turn it into a Lack Rack. There are some shelves available for racks so you could hide some stuff. You can even go as far as setting up a patch panel and a rack power strip. Some power strips have outlets on the front and back, so you can hide stuff in the back.