Material Files support both SMB and SFTP - https://f-droid.org/en/packages/me.zhanghai.android.files/

Any router that supports latest openwrt will be able to do a mesh network, if you have the option to run cable I would recommend ethernet backhaul instead.

Sometimes there are caveats when setting up the mesh, f.e. the firmware issue and fix here:
https://www.tekovic.com/blog/openwrt-80211s-mesh-networking/

Hardware list:
https://openwrt.org/toh/start?toh.filter.supportedcurrentrel=22.03|23.05

edit:
OpenWrt Mesh guide:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/80211s
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/mesh11sd

edit 2 adding the openwrt warning here:
It is unfortunate that some manufacturers have used the word “Mesh” for marketing purposes to describe their non-standard, closed source, proprietary “roaming” functionality and this causes great confusion to many people when they enter the world of international standards and open source firmware for their network infrastructure.

The accepted standard for mesh networks is ieee802.11s.
The accepted standard for fast roaming of user devices is ieee802.11r.

These are two completely unrelated standards.

The main config needed is AP+Sta mode, which is explained here:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/ap_sta

Pretend the “main router” is a hotel wifi and use the TravelMate package.
https://github.com/openwrt/packages/blob/master/net/travelmate/files/README.md

You setup Proxmox Backup Server on separate hardware and then you add it as a storage option in your Proxmox Virtualization Server.
I haven’t dived into it but I imagine you could run the Proxmox Backup Server as a VM in your Synology NAS.
https://www.proxmox.com/images/download/pbs/docs/proxmox-backup-3-1.pdf

edit: Unofficial PBS Docker github: https://github.com/ayufan/pve-backup-server-dockerfiles

There’s also some web-based solutions but not sure setting up a webserver is any less complicated than using docker:
https://lycheeorg.github.io/
https://piwigo.org/

Found an interesting read regarding the matter here:
https://old.reddit.com/r/ceph/comments/mppwas/single_node_ceph_vs_zfsbtrfs/
Most seem to recommend going for ZFS instead if using a single machine but there is a person discussing his first hand experience with single node Ceph.

Eatons batteries are usually really simple to switch, see
https://www.eaton.com/content/dam/eaton/products/backup-power-ups-surge-it-power-distribution/backup-power-ups/eaton-5s-ups/eaton-5s-120v-user-manual-700-1000-1500-lcd.pdf

For me they are meant for allowing a graceful shutdown in a powerout scenario and to protect the hardware behind them from power surges.

Figure out how much power your servers use on average with the help of a wattage meter, then enter that number and how many minutes battery backup you want in Eatons UPS Power Calculator to find a suitable unit. I’m sure other vendors have similar tools too.

portainer.io with debian gives you a web UI if that’s the only thing stopping you.
There’s a Community Edition (CE) here: https://www.portainer.io/install

I think Mediasonic still makes 8 bay DAS units, they’re becoming a lot rarer.
I would probably start looking at NAS units if I were you, or buy a bigger tower case and fit the disks internally instead.

I use cockpit and my phone to start my virtual fedora, which has pcie passthrough on gpu and a usb controller.

Desktop:

Mobile:

As part of the transition of perpetual licensing to new subscription offerings, the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (Free Edition) has been marked as EOGA (End of General Availability). At this time, there is not an equivalent replacement product available.

For further details regarding the affected products and this change, we encourage you to review the following blog post: https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud-foundation/2024/01/22/vmware-end-of-availability-of-perpetual-licensing-and-saas-services/

• https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2107518

• KVM/QEMU/Libvirt/virt-manager on a Debian 12 for minimal installation that allows you to choose backup tools and the like on your own.
• Proxmox for a mature KVM-based virtualizer with built in tools for backups, clustering, etcetera. Also supports LXC. https://github.com/proxmox
• Incus for LXC/KVM virtualization - younger solution than Proxmox and more focused on LXC. https://github.com/lxc/incus

Would work if it was planned to be a system used by only techies or if we knew exactly what groups are wanted beforehand. Definitely gonna remember the tip, splitting it into several shared dbs didn’t even hit me as an option.

Sounds like I should get my docker vm. :)

True, I could use VM+Docker as you say. I’ve been thinking of making a dedicated “Docker VM” before when I’ve looked at interesting projects that has no other offerings.
I’ve felt that using docker in a vm robs docker of it’s advantages so why use it at all if I’m planning on having a vm? I guess one answer is “because the software you want is delivered as a docker image”.

This is the reason I don’t use a shared database, I think that’s what you’re referencing?
Add ability to sync group structure with KeeShare - Status:Open
https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc/issues/3045

Passbolt and Vaultwarden has been recommended so far. Gonna look into them later! :)

Only client side from what I can find. The server seems to be Docker based.