You do know this is selfhosted, right? People tell us that what we do is "not a good idea" all the time.

This... It is ease vs control. If you have needs inside the box Proxmox has planned for, it is very easy. But if you want to step outside that box, you are in for a world of surprise. I install Proxmox for clients that do not have solid Linux chops. I run KVM/libvirt on my own stuff. And if you need a web front end, oVirt exists...

I used to be all white box, and now I am all business class cast offs... If I lose a motherboard I can get one on ebay or a complete system for next to nothing if it is common like Dell. And now I just treat the boxes like cattle rather than pets. One dies and I move the hard drive to a new one.

This is incorrect and bad advice. A Dell or Lenovo business class motherboard will not bolt into an ATX case, nor connect to an ATX power supply.

I wouldn't recommend it to my friends, maybe techie friends, but it is so hard to configure.

I hear ya, but some of the new stuff is worse! It will get better, but then there is the next hurdle; stability. Zoneminder can run for months with no baby sitting... Other stuff, not so much. But I keep watching, and hoping!

I am running Zoneminder. I have played with Frigate and it is not really production ready. And Zoneminder, while not fancy, works every time and has some of the best still pictures of anything out there. I will keep looking at the next new thing, but I am not shutting off Zoneminder until something is solidly batter.

Thanks. I want a fallback for problematic mail servers (Microsoft) only, and do not want to pay the tool to the people causing the problem. :)

When you turn your NAS into a hosting platform, it is no longer just a NAS.

I think the problem with Clear OS is that it has a very narrow market. People comfortable with Linux and containers have their own preferred method. And band new users don't know it exists.

As for your OPNsense issue, I have never seen anything like that before and can not understand it. Hardware conflict perhaps? You can also try OpenWRT or there is a free Sophos firewall. Also Firewalla, but it is a bit old...

Yes, but the other computers I listed have a person behind them that will click things. Like a "close" button that actually installs malware. A NAS does not click things.

I was looking at their policies, and I am worried about the "Forbidden Services" where they forbid "Forward-only service for massive numbers of domains on one account." I have 5 domains... Any idea what "massive numbers" means?

Also, can you send to an sms gateway a single email?

With these tools and others, that game is just about over. So many consumers are just done with all the BS, and I think a larger shift is coming.

Much more likely to gain access via a compromised desktop, or smart phone.

I know. That is why I said there was a lot of good stuff there.

Zoho has been solid for me as well.

There is a lot of good stuff on noted.lol

The quality of APC has really drops to pathetic levels. This is another example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIEM2bG8mOQ We dropped them years ago for Cyberpower. Got tired of RMAs.

Depends on how you buy it. If you keep power consumption at the top of mind, and you stay about 3 years back in the early refresh cycle, you can do very well.

You have to understand the priorities of the rack server market.

#1 is dependability. It needs to keep running no matter what. Evenrthing is built around overbuilding it. More cooling, dual CPUs, Dual power supplies, lots of drives in RAID...

#2 is size. Colo space is expensive! So keep it small. So everything is densely packed, which is bad for airflow. And you get stacked small fans running at the speed of sound.

#3 is performance. Yeah, you would think it was first, but it ain't. But that means 10k and 12k spinning drives. These are loud and noisy!

Way down the list is power... When you consider the cost of the hardware new, the cost of the colo space, and the cost of the people maintaining it, the power cost is next to nothing. The only thing less important than power consumption is sound which is not even on the list...

Now, compare that with workstations. They have a lot of the same components like Xenon CPUs, lots of ram, raid... But they sit on a desk, so noise, heat and power are a real concern. And they are often overlooked in the used and refurb market. So for less money, you get server like components and performance, in a quieter and more power friendly form factor.

More spindles means better performance. But also more power use. Only you can decide which is more important.