I think if you have a mini PC or something you don’t mins installing server specific OS on, proxmox VE is pretty great. It can be a bit of a headache depending on what you want to do but it also makes expanding your self hosting super easy/fun.

Proxmox let’s you created virtual machines or containers and easily manage them.

Currently I run a mini PC.(Beelinks are great for this and pretty cheap with more power than a raspberry pi)

1. Proxmox VE as the operating system
2. Jellyfin as my media server

• looking to install home assistant and some others as well.

3. Tail scale to use as a VPN into my network privately from anywhere.

Simplest set up? No. But I also just started self hosting. You’re gonna hit some.headaches regardless but it’s also extremely rewarding and I’ve learned alot.

Edit: if you’re only wanting to run one thing (say jellyfin) . A raspberry pi with tail scale and jellyfin is how I started. Works just fine.

Ive been using proton for a little more than a year now and I think that the service is one of the best out there. That, and their privacy guides in their blog are great as well. I think abandoning ship this early isn’t really a need. I’ve abondonded things like Plex for jellyfin due to Plex starting to feel very commerical. As others have pointed out, the governing of the company may keep one individuals views from interfering with the products. With that said, if your beliefs swing opposite, i see how it can leave a bad taste and make it worth keeping an eye on the direction of the company.

Personally, I run the following:

Hardware:

• Mini PC (beelink but used to use raspberry pi)
• 1tb external drive for now

Software/OS

• proxmox (so I can virtuaize what I Host on one machine)
• Ubuntu server in a VM
• jellyfin (media server)
• tailscale (to access my server from anywhere)

One of the top comments mentions starting with plex. I also recommend that. Jellyfin is cool but plex makes a lot of features such as sharing and subtitles much easier. You also can with jellyfin but it’s much more technical. The only reason I went away from it was I felt the direction plex was going seemed a little too commercial for me. And I also like to use open source when I can.