No, your existing machine is more than enough. I've run all that stuff and more on a Pi3 in the past and it was OK. I run everything on an old Lenovo X240 laptop now, i5 with 8GB ram. Even when running docker apps, it doesn't even break into a sweat and the fans never come on. I've also set the laptop to run (Debian) in minimal power mode with the screen off so that it uses probably no more power than the 2 Pi's I was running before.
I run Debian minimal since it is a lot simpler than Ubuntu and closer to the same OS (Rasbian) on the Pi. Ubuntu is nominally built over Debian. But either will do. Caddy isn't fussy about the OS it is running on.
Forget running a desktop on your home server unless you are desperate for one (and in that case, personally, I'd run one via Docker, I occasionally do that to get a Linux desktop over RDP). The Linux desktops are crazy complex and suck up resources and electricity you don't need. To say nothing of all of the extra updates you have to keep installing. Not worth it. Caddy is configured via text files like most of Linux anyway so it is very easy. I use VSCode remote to edit mine.
You can search the forum here for references to Caddy in order to get the basics you need for running Node-RED and then once working, you can tweak to meet your exact needs.
Can i suggest though as you are at the start of your journey into all of this and if you are not using the laptop for web browsing etc as well - you maybe start from scratch and set it up with Debian without a desktop and then use that as the base for moving forward.
Ubuntu has gone off on a funny tangent recently with some application packaging stuff that makes a number of tasks more difficult (sometimes) for beginners etc.
Most of the people (majority probably) run Node red on Debian (as this is what the Raspberry Pi has been based on) so you will get the most help and support with that. Its not a big thing - but it is the edge cases that trip up newbies
@craigcurtin and @TotallyInformation I was thinking the same thing. My hesitation with going (back) to Debian was because I've invested so much in trying to get Ubuntu to work. That being said, I'm working on installing Debian now.
Hello all again! I finally completed the install of Debian - as best I know how anyway. ha! Now I'm a bit hung up on how to enable access to the Node-RED Editor over HTTPS. Not sure if this is where something like CloudFlare / Nginx / Caddy comes into play. I've started a thread: How to enable access to the Node-RED Editor over HTTPS. If anyone was able to offer their insight I'd be much obliged!
Okay, so an update: the motion sensors arrived on the 6th of this month and so I'm going to finally try to create my first flow! This will utilize the Decora Smart Plug-In Single Outlet, Zigbee Certified DG15A, the 3 Aqara motion sensors and the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Gateway, Universal Zigbee USB Gateway with Antenna for Home. Heeeere goes!
