I'm about to configure a NUC7i5 with 32GB memory and 500GB storage with a single display (TV) and with hard wired ethernet connectivity. Primary uses are for Home Assistant, PiHole and I'd like to make the NUC my OpenVPN server. I currently use a ROKU as the user interface consolidator for Netflix, Disney +, Hulu, Discover + and some others. I also receive email with YouTube links or zoom meetings. I'd like to consolidate all that into the NUC.
My current thinking is Debian 10 with Docker...one container for Home Assistant, one container for PiHole. Run Kodi and Zoom as applications under Debian so that I can use the display (TV) for Kodi content or for zoom and YouTube URL's would resolve through chromium or Mozilla and show on the TV. There are many media managers, but Kodi seems to be the only one that allows me to link to subscriptioin services). I have no clue how to put OpenVPN into this configuration, but the flow I'd like is Debian as well as my other home computers (ipads and windows) first using PiHole to strip out spam.junk ads and then go through OpenVPN to be secure on the internet. Not sure how to connect from PiHole or Debian to OpenVPN (do I just use their external IP's?). I haven't picked any desktop yet. I should note that Home Assistant is only fully supported under Debian although it works on Ubuntu.
I'm not sure if ProxMox fits....but I know it's the choice of many.....something along the line of running all my desktop stuff on top of Proxmox and then running Proxmox VM's rather than (or in addition to) Docker containers.
Too many choices....if any of the above makes sense, I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions.
My current thinking is Debian 10 with Docker...one container for Home Assistant, one container for PiHole. Run Kodi and Zoom as applications under Debian so that I can use the display (TV) for Kodi content or for zoom and YouTube URL's would resolve through chromium or Mozilla and show on the TV. There are many media managers, but Kodi seems to be the only one that allows me to link to subscriptioin services). I have no clue how to put OpenVPN into this configuration, but the flow I'd like is Debian as well as my other home computers (ipads and windows) first using PiHole to strip out spam.junk ads and then go through OpenVPN to be secure on the internet. Not sure how to connect from PiHole or Debian to OpenVPN (do I just use their external IP's?). I haven't picked any desktop yet. I should note that Home Assistant is only fully supported under Debian although it works on Ubuntu.
I'm not sure if ProxMox fits....but I know it's the choice of many.....something along the line of running all my desktop stuff on top of Proxmox and then running Proxmox VM's rather than (or in addition to) Docker containers.
Too many choices....if any of the above makes sense, I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions.