Thy already wrote this will not be powered on 24/7, just lean back and enjoy the pics and story :-)

I also noticed slow dl speeds some weeks ago, and had to restart the download. Nearly did not install it out of growing frustration. But it worked out in the end.

Rimworld.

DOS s.u.s.e. 4.x or 5.x

Would be around 300€ in Germany, on a cheap contract. Limiting myself to one combined NAS/application server atm, with the others turned on only if I want to try sth out.

Yes. Chuck some 5TB Seagate externals. They’re way less pain in the ears, cooler and quieter.

Ray guns everywhere please. Stepped into that beamer trap once, only for my non-DE colleagues to tease me forever with it.

Yup, with 2,5" Seagates. Reused the enclosure with smaller used enterprise ssds to make cheap USB sticks.

Stolen, bookmarked. Thank you. P.s.: Can’t understand the downvotes either.

Yeaay spiders, I’d really look forward to see the spiders!

No issues here. Have to use (mainly) excel at work, but use libre office calc at home, for years. Hate excel with all my heart. Mainly autocomplete and UI issues, but also issues when using more than one instance with excel. No problems with file exchange, p.e. with my tax person. Imho excel was THE leader but they enshittyfied it to the max.

Fritzboxes are rock stable, and support Wireguard from FritzOS 7.5 onwards, see https://avm.de/service/vpn/wireguard-vpn-zur-fritzbox-am-computer-einrichten/

(Apparently NOT the cable versions!)

What nags me most with them is that you have no separate Firewall controll over their WiFi, and the WiFi range is not really great. So probably consider going with dedicated APs instead.

To extend on this: Anybody ever did a test recovery to see if the backups are ok and to dry-test their backup/restore strategy? I have to admit that until now I was too cheap to keep a spare drive array just for testing.

Maybe use Sumatra PDF instead?

For a platter swap, you’ll need an identical drive. Sometimes these surface on ebay, also some parts left over from data rescue services. Probably interesting to contact the seller then with your drive details.

I’m not sure. I remember an article from the late 90ies where a computer magazine suggested to do that in the bathroom, as that was the most dust-free room of your flat. Never done it myself, and also have an old IDE drive I’d like to resurrect. There’s different methods to try beforehand, if the electronics aren’t totally fried, like freezing the drive (sealed, with dessicant ofc) and others. These might work if the bearings or spindle motor are stuck. In any case be prepared to copy the data quickly, check all steps up front with another ok drive… because the real patient won’t last long. Or, probably, ask for a quote from a professional service. But these are definitively not cheap.

I’d assume they put the platter into another drive body due to some mechanical or electronics failure in the original drive.

You can probably even omit any heating and just use those desiccant sacks. They can be reused.

TV Headend + Kodi

Debatable. Boost through a task and be done quickly, with some more power usage, or chunk along longer with probably more power usage. Would have to be tested, but I’d bet on the boost.