General activity goes out the VPN always. My self hosted setup, lab stuff, and work stuff gets different connections out (logically, not physically).

Just about anything is OK for a server, I use whatever hardware I get from work thats being decommissioned.

The biggest limit I see is the ram. Depending on what you spin up and how, it’ll be the tightest budget per service.

Then tag with [CBH] as required.