Interests: Linux, Fountain Pens, Rugby, Selfhosting, and a bit of boardgaming, rpgs, and Nintendo switch gaming.
Terra Master has a six bay DAS.
https://www.terra-master.com/us/products/homesoho-das/d6-320.html
My useless advice: Do it in phases as you learn.
Years ago I used to run a linux server with everything installed under Apache virtual directories and fought the constant upgrade cycle. Life got in the way and I gave up on it until the pandemic slowed life down enough for me to start playing again. So I went the Yunhost route on an old Mac Mini. I now have a 3 node Proxmox cluster with Yunhost in a VM (with a dozen apps running on it) and another 15-20 containers running under either lxc or docker. I eventually purchased a cheap NAS device for data storage so that I could make use of the Proxmox fail over capabilities.
If your mini pc has the capability for two drives, install the OS on one and store data on the other (unless/until you get a second pc/NAS).
Has anyone tried selfhosting ente photos? Curious how well it works.