We started using more than one device and web accessed mail became the norm. POP3 still exists and you can use mail clients and delete everything off the server. Come to think of it, maybe we can then use syncthing to sync the mail across all other devices? Maybe?
Install linux somewhere, ssh to it and set up a web sever and an ftp server. Access it locally and then access it from the internet. This should be your first goal. It will make you comfortable with the command line and linux. You can try a montero node then.
ChatGPT will be able to help with the basic stuff like how to check logs, configs, or what SSH is or how to set it up.