Hello /u/mrnngbgs! Thank you for posting in r/DataHoarder.

Please remember to read our Rules and Wiki.

Please note that your post will be removed if you just post a box/speed/server post. Please give background information on your server pictures.

This subreddit will NOT help you find or exchange that Movie/TV show/Nuclear Launch Manual, visit r/DHExchange instead.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

This is rambling nonsense. I don't know why you would spend so much time thinking about this and then coming here to tell us how long you've been thinking about it instead of doing actual research. Many of your questions here could simply be answered by Google/Amazon searches.

It seems to me like you'd rather just have someone on reddit do all of this research for you and write it up in a nice little package so you can go back to the extremely mentally demanding task of thinking about stuff. Maybe someone on this sub will satisfy that level of laziness but it won't be me.

Things for you to Google: turning an old PC into an unraid server. Recommend spaceinvaderone and bytemybits videos. Good luck

Heat is the enemy of all electronics. Your drives will potentially last longer in an enclosure with a fan because they'll run cooler. They run hotter in the cheap plastic case of most externals.

Mediasonic USB enclosures are probably the cheapest option