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I know there are higher orders of nerds than me who will have some supremely elegant solution, but you identified as a beginner, so here are my two cents:
Going the static IP route and directly exposing your server to the outside world is a potentially major security hazard unless you know what you’re doing. Especially when getting started, it may be a good idea to consider using a router with built in VPN capabilities for accessing your network remotely when you need SSH access, or other maintenance tools.
Media serving software like Plex and Jellyfin will be able to serve content without the VPN just fine, and it will keep your more vulnerable controls behind your network security as you are learning and getting things set up. As you get more experienced and ambitious, then you can consider exposing your setup to the outside world, but be sure to put in security safe guards so you don’t get brute forced by bots like a back alley cyborg hooker.
VPN routers are cheap, security breaches are not.
I consider myself at a somewhat moderate level of proficiency at this point, but I still use the VPN system for my server because I never have to worry about it. It takes two seconds to check the OpenVPN toggle if I’m away from home and need to restart something, but 99% of the time, the content servers just work and my major maintenance can wait until I’m on the same network.
That was very helpful info at this stage. Thanks a lot for this.
Glad it helped! I didn’t want to derail your plan if you knew what you were doing, but your question reminded me of when I was first starting, so I wanted to provide a beginner friendly solution in case you needed it.