Proxmox VE 9.1 Homelab: ZFS, LXC vs VM, Docker Migration advice?

[Marco Malavolti <marco.malavolti@gmail.com>]

Good evening to all Proxmox enthusiasts!

I’m a future new user of Proxmox VE 9.1 and Proxmox Backup Server, and I’m
looking for what you think is the most long‑lasting solution within the
Proxmox ecosystem for a simple homelab.

This is my hardware for Proxmox VE 9.1:

1) CWWK 12th Gen Intel Firewall Mini PC Alder Lake i3 N305 Fanless Soft
Router Proxmox DDR5 4800MHz 4xi226-V 2.5G (
https://cwwk.net/products/12th-gen-intel-firewall-mini-pc-alder-lake-i3-n305-8-core-n200-n100-fanless-soft-router-proxmox-ddr5-4800mhz-4xi226-v-2-5g?_pos=1&_sid=cc36e8016&_ss=r&variant=44613920162024
)

2) 32GB of Crucial DDR5 RAM (https://amzn.eu/d/00DxTBLh)

3) 2TB NVMe M.2: https://amzn.eu/d/0f2XIxHV

4) Legrand Keor Multiplug LG-310082 800VA/480W UPS (
https://amzn.eu/d/06coyhv5)

For Proxmox Backup Server I have a mini PC with an Intel i5-5250U 4‑core
CPU, 8GB RAM and a 1TB Samsung 870 SSD.

I also have another external 1TB hard drive for an additional backup to
support a 3‑2‑1 strategy.

At the moment, all my applications run directly on a mini PC with Debian 12
and Docker Compose: Immich, Nextcloud, Pi-hole, ProjectSend, Nginx Proxy
Manager.

In the future I would like to move everything to Proxmox VE and PBS, but
I’d like to do it wisely. I’d like to set up a system that is both
high‑performance and long‑lasting. I’ve heard about ZFS, but I’d like to
better understand what is the best choice in my situation. LXC or VMs? I
understand that with LXC I would have a better level of separation than
putting everything in a single VM with Docker. Maybe you’ve already
discussed these topics before, and if you can point me to those threads
I’ll be happy to read them with curiosity.

I came here to learn and move toward the best possible setup. Many thanks
for any help, for your experience, and for what you share!

Marco Malavolti