OP, you should pick whatever you want. It’s obvious from your cocky tone in the posts so far that you’ve got it all figured out.

You can’t articulate an actual use case. Just “I have some hardware, want to do things and stuff.” You don’t know how to install an OS without formatting over top of 700GB of existing data. Don’t know if you want headless or not.

How could anyone recommend an appropriate solution to a problem that isn’t even defined? Why was making a post here with no definition easier than watching one of thousands of tutorials on YouTube for installing a Debian based distro and then trying to figure out bash with to get by?

“I’m going to give Linux one final try…” Linux is giving you one final try. I’m sorry, you didn’t pass the test. Stick with windows homie. Just leave a windows desktop powered on for a long time. Congrats, you have a homelab now.

I just host a bunch of worthless stuff that no one wants.

I bought a 2 pack of these for $90 on sale.

https://amcrest.com/prohd-5mp-outdoor-security-ip-turret-poe-camera-2-8mm-lens-103-fov-ip67-weatherproof-white-ip5m-t1179ew-28mm.html

PoE is 100% the way to go. You can have a UPS on the circuit where your switch is, and cameras won’t cut out any time you need to pop a breaker and do any electrical work.

I had some spare PoE injectors from other equipment, and I’m sure you can find some secondhand ones for cheap. Seriously, running a single low voltage wire cannot be understated.

If you need to run conduit outside I would just use some small grey PVC. Or you can find outdoor rated Cat5/6 cable with black sheathing that will resist UV, and is filled with dielectric grease.

As far as a switch in the wall, they should sell some steel or PVC boxes that will sit in between studs and mount flush. Kind of looks a circuit breaker panel. Mostly used in commercial buildings, so you might want to check an electrical supply house locally.