Interesting. I’ll dig a little more then. Most of my vm experience has been on desktop for various reasons, and it’s almost always been a pain in the ass and not worth the effort.

I assume the kvm stuff can be running a minimal os, sort of like an alpine docker image?

For the most part, this old bucket is doing just fine with probably more than I should be throwing at it.

I’m curious as to why proxmox and VMs over a minimal Debian install with docker containers, though? At least, from my understanding, proxmox would be requiring a lot more hardware overhead when I’m mostly just running emby/jellyfin, nextcloud, homeassistant (and related services) and frigate (with a coral).

It’s definitely a lot, but I also rarely see cpu use over 70% (typically much lower), though frigate likes to cause problems occasionally. And I’ve never seen a concerning amount of ram usage.

Definitely getting one of those little n100s soon, and will probably move the home automation stuff over there, and slowly transition the current box into being a nas and nothing more.

I think you’re right. I’m just trapped in the cycle of over-thinking and second guessing my knowledge and capabilities.

Are y’all me? Mid 40s, still mentally 20-something, can’t read silkscreen pin numbers, and back pain? It’s the best

Learning to solder is incredibly helpful with getting your esphome devices off the desk and into real-world use.

Don’t cheap out on the iron, though. Hakko and Weller are the two brands I’m familiar with and “everyone” seem to trust. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars, but the quality gap between $30 and $60 is very obvious.

This is one of those instances where the idea of “a poor craftsman blames his tools” falls apart. I was using a crappy non-adjustable pen and could never achieve good, reliable results despite having proper technique. Then I got a decent Weller adjustable unit, and suddenly everything was “perfect”.

If you’re looking for additional toys, a 3D printer is insanely useful for creating bespoke cases for your projects ;)