Its all consumer hardware but it's a dedicated box running unraid.
- I3 12100
- 16GB DDR4 ram
- LSI raid card
- Case that allows for lots of 3.5inch drives
Ita easy to do in unraid, you set it up per share, so say you have a "media" share you can change the settings to include a cache drive and then set it to write to the cache drive first and then more to array. If you don't have a cache drive or want to add a other you can do that by installing the ssd, booting up, stopping the array and adding in a new cache drive (you can add it to your existing cache pool to increase its size or create a new one and keep them separate for separate uses)
I never made such a comment. Gaming, for me is a big reason why I only have windows installed on my PC (and adobe) there are games which work on Linux (either natively or with Proton) but some games I play, don't. Theres no point in me dual booting as, let's be honest, dual booting just adds more steps and overcomplicates things. I use Linux on my laptop as the alternatives I use (Darktable and Kdenlive) are more than good enough for when I'm on my laptop (its not exactly a powerhouse) but when I'm on my desktop I want to use Lightroom, Photoshop and DaVinci Resolve as they are more refined and fit my workflow better.
Unraid on my server is just because its exactly what I need.
Not sure about your life, but I don't count things I enjoy as "work" especially when its not work. I enjoy using Linux, I enjoy my home lab why should I need to justify it when it brings me joy? Linux works for me and my workflow, just because it doesn't work for yours, don't try to shit on other people.
Check out Spaceinvader One on YT, he alone is all you need when it comes to everything and anything unraid.