I have this currently. Been running steady for 5 years now. I have 2 5tb portable hdds as my storage (usb3) and all the arrs, plex media server and qbittorrent with the vpn and a kill switch so if the vpn goes down the torrents aren’t running. Everything just works as long as nothing needs transcoded. My main tv is Roku and seems to handle all the file formats so it been working fine for me. YMMV.

Currently I am trying to learn docker and containerize all the different apps to make redeployment simpler.

I want to 2nd this. Lots of manual work because software (and you) can tag albums, folders, files incorrectly and have a mess on your hands.

I like software like “tagscanner” and even iTunes. Once the files have proper metadata then I use that data to rename the file/folder names.

See if any of them support ddwrt openwrt tomato router or just Linux in general. You probably couldn’t run plex media server, but you can do ad blocking, vpn server, and basic nas. Works great for these tasks.

This is good advice right here. Unless you’re a dj (even then it’s overkill) and or have incredibly high end equipment (again, it’s probably overkill), just go with some high bitrate mp3. MP3 is incredibly compact, everything plays it, and has all the metadata needed. Seriously you can’t tell the difference.

Yes I’ve done it. What sucks is you make a lot of trash this way. Also double and triple check that the drives you buy will have standard sata connectors on them.