> For those not keeping count, total hardware spend is in the 13k-20k USD ballpark, by my count.

Yep! Right around the $13.5k mark.

> This homelab does seem compute focused, which might be right for OP but is normally a mistake that people make when they build their first homelab.

Very compute focused for the specific projects that I intend to work on.

> I'm wondering what OP's home internet bandwidth is. It seems odd to have so much compute behind a network bottleneck unless OP has high-compute-small-output workloads (ml training, data searching/analysis, NOT video encoding)

1gbps symmetric + a failover Starlink connection. Not a ton of large output workloads at the moment.

> However, keep in mind that a single machine will make it hard to tinker with large parts of the stack.

Very much in agreement here. This is one of the reasons I went with multiple machines.

> I'm willing to pay a premium on compute to have less commitment and physical footprint.

I also like this mindset, but my other hobbies are piano (and I'm very sensitive to the way that the keys are weighted, so I prefer playing a real grand piano vs a portable/mini electronic piano) and woodworking (even more bulky equipment), so I'm already pretty committed to putting down roots.