I don’t really like sysadmin stuff, but I like to have my own server, locally, not to be internet dependent for everything.
I’m in a “remote” location with (very, very) not state of the art ADLS, so slow. It is in itself a good reason, but, I als don’t like the privacy invasion thing.
So if you’re concerned about that, homelab’s also a good way to go.
It used to quiet hard (at least involved) to install and maintain a decent homelab setup, but for nearly a decade now, docker made that way more simplierest !
What do I call a homelab ? Old computer, Raspberry Pi (or other SBC), mini pc, anything that can run linux really. It doesn’t even have to be one. You could have a bunch, of course power bill, admin time will increase so choose wisely …
Sometimes, a 200-250 mini pc will have better power efficiency than your old gaming pc, especially if you do not need the juice.
On my side, for now, I have a RPI 4 with 4 Gigs of ram, but a 8 GB Pi 5 is on it’s way.