smb share if its desktop to desktop. If its from phone to PC, I throw it on nextcloud on the phone, then grab it from the web ui on pc.

Smb is the way to go if you have identity set up, since your PC auth will carry over for the connection to the smb share. Nextcloud will be less typing if not since you can just have persistent auth on the app / web.

I run freeipa internally, which handles all internal https certs (as well as nice things like handling non sudo auth so I can just ssh to machines from an already authed machine without a PW prompt, and doing ldaps for internal things that support it)

For external web, I have a single box running nginx as a reverse proxy thats web exposed. That nginx box has letsencrypt certs for the public web stuff. The nginx rp has the internal CA on it and will validate the internal https certs (no mullet SSL here!)

I also do different domains for internal vs external, but thats not a requirement for a setup like this

Rhasspy. Idk if rhasspy3 is out fully, but I would wait for that and then set it up. (I have began to see the home assistant side being released - its supposed to tie in a lot better than rhasspy2, and even brought the dev on to the HA project)

Significantly better code gen, but not to the point where it can make an application on its own. I tried using it for an embedded esp32 based project for fun, and while it could create mqtt support, the code for setting up WiFi / a small web backend / some HTML for a front end… It struggled with the application logic. Either way, it got about 70% of the way there

Doesn’t help for this (or the next) oil change… But look into a fujimoto drain plug. Its a mini ball valve that is spring loaded (so you have to press the leaver up before you can turn it… Also has a 2nd safety in the form of a plastic clip that prevents it from being pressed up). Makes oil changes so easy. For your bike, it might still be too recessed, but the valve has a hose barb on it too so you can direct the oil into the drain pan

Old PC that can be on all the time.

If you dont have one and want dedicated hardware, I would recommend a used server, or something you can whitebox (like using as asrock rack mobo that takes a desktop ryzen but supports ecc memory)

Put proxmox on as the host OS, two ssd’s in raid 1 is good for a boot drive / VM storage drive. Raid 10 if you want real high performance, but probably unneeded.

Look for a case that has a SAS backplane, and then connect the backplane to a HBA card. Pass this card through to freenas for storage shares and stuff.

I recommend not virtualizing your router. So, if you want togoet away from Soho gear, either flash a Soho router with openWRT, or build a separate box for pfsense or opnsense. If you go that route, you will need a separate switch / access point. Unifi gear has a good balance of features and affordability, and can all be managed from a single ui (let’s say you have 3 switches and 2 access points… You dont need to go to 5 web UI’s, its all in one spot - and you can self host the web ui in proxmox)