I had a Dell PowerEdge a while back for that very purpose. Got rid of it when I moved because it took up too much space.

Yes! I think I might actually do it this time, new hardware next week. 🤔

I've definitely run a LAMP server before but not a VM cloud. It IS tempting, but also difficult, especially if you want to host email services.

I was gifted a half-height server rack several years ago. It has served me well.

One day

So... I am not alone on this

Check out /r/homelab - careful tough, that shit is addictive 💸

Small form factor PCs, like the Lenovo Thinkcentre tiny, work well for smaller projects and they are low noise and power consumption. HP and Dell make similar sized boxes.