Honestly the best thing to do is just start trying things and don’t only rely on your own stuff until you have a good understanding.
Just get an old computer and install an os you want to learn, worst case you break it and reinstall.
I suggest proxmox since you can lean on community scripts and can backup and restore any containers pretty easily if needed.
But as with anything don’t go in expecting to be perfect, just get started, break some eggs and learn from mistakes. You will learn what you like about it, what you would change and you can burn it all down and start again if you want as well.
mirshafie@europe.pub 6 hours ago
The best thing to do is just start with whatever you already have. An old gaming rig, laptop or Raspberry Pi, doesn’t matter. Each will present some technical obstacle that you need to overcome (for example keeping the laptop going when the lid is closed). That’s part of learning.
Self-hosting is a hobby where we gradually learn more. Experimentation is just as important as reading the docs.