[ei23]

Distros are a bit like a matter of taste; I use Debian Server. First, practice locally on an old laptop, thin client, Raspberry Pi, or whatever you have. Proxmox LXC is very useful for quickly bringing up a new instance in case you mess up.

UFW is an easy-to-use firewall. Use Docker with a reverse proxy (Traefik/Nginx). You can VPN into your server and close nearly all ports with that.

Try my installer script: diy-smart-home.ei23.com. You can also use it to built an regular dockerized server. Happy learning!