I run mynode in a VM. it's good, I'm happy with it.

Not used either but definitely go with Model2. You will want the 2tb drive for the long run.

Also curious to hear. I had looked into MyNode a while back, but now am leaning towards Start9, which seems like a good plug n play option if you want to do more than just run the node.

Solid choice, the upgrades have become very reliable. It supports a drive clone feature, recommend you get an extra drive to clone occasionally.