Hey all! Im pretty new to Linux in general. Hated windows since I ca remember, and now am mainly a mac guy since thats what my industry uses. But I have played with ubuntu on/off for the last year and have decided that I want a Ubuntu media/backup server. Im scared to dual boot it anymore as it seems to mess up the file system on my entire HDD when I do and 6mo or sooner down the line I end up needing to unpartition the Ubuntu partition and it wipes my drive. Or it just eats my entire drive instead of installing on one partition. Im sure its user error, so more reason to be here!

Anyway, my plan is to build a PC like server. What I mean by that is I am cash constrained and will either modify an existing PC or, more likely, will build a PC from a brand new basic case, motherboard, etc. I HAD a NAS from Buffalo. 4TB of storage, and the processor fried. Thats what Buffalo said anyway. So I want to stick those and a 5th HDD in a PC case and use it as a media server and backup for my other two computers.

So I guess my first question is, is there any known hardware on the market that wont work with Ubuntu? Like if I had a grocery list, is there somewhere I can compare it to? Also, any recommended reading?

Thank you all.