I will go even ONE step further than others - if you are scared to start a software like Truenas scale that has a GUI has helped me. A lot of the options offered by others are great but can require a lot of command line stuff. There are a few OS’s out there that are more point and click that I had a lot of success with. Truenas scale runs the docker containers that others are recommending.

Want to truly understand how good it is? Try getting a specific thing out of a pocket with a thick glove!