CONFUSED RE: UNRAID SERVER CONFIG (MacBook Pro + ZamiBoard 432 + Thunderbolt 2 Dock + External SSD and HDDs)

Bonjour,

I apologize in advance, I am a real beginner in computing / home server / unraid and I am embarking on the project of rebuilding my home unraid server, which is very DIY, but I am gradually becoming really passionate about it. I recently bought a ZamiBoard 432 and a Thunderbolt 2 dock to maximize my macbook capabilities and I really need your valuable advice to configure my devices according to the available connection interfaces, to ensure maximizing performance while remaining minimally secure.

GOAL:

I intend to build and use my new Unraid setup for videos and movies management and transcoding (h264 to h265), torrent downloads, storage, running home assistant with over 50 integrations and various automations, and having nextcloud and around 8-10 other commonly used containers for other practical purposes.

The purpose ultimately is to have the fastest server possible to download and process data. Transcoding capacity is seeked only to optimize my 2 TB movie library size without affecting quality, as I primarily stream the on my local network and share my plex and jellyfin accounts with 2-3 family members (not frequent). I am looking at the Unmantic container with HW transcoding for this usecase.

HARDWARE (AND PORT INTERFACES) INVENTORY:

2013 Macbook Pro (125GB SSD, with 8GB RAM) :

• 2 x Thunderbolt 2 ports.
• 2 x USB 3.0 ports.
• USB flash drive for Unraid boot.
• Thunderbolt 2 to Ethernet adapter, if needed.

Belkin Thunderbolt 2 Dock:

• 2 x Thunderbolt 2 ports with support for daisychaining (with 2 x tb2 cables).
• 3 x USB 3.0 ports.
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet port.
• 1 x HDMI port.

ZimaBoard 432 :

• 1 x Mini DisplayPort.
• 2 x Gigabit Ethernet ports.
• 4x SATA 6.0 Gb/s interfaces.

External Drives:

• Netac 512GB SSD (Fast External SSD)
• Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime USB stick, 1TB (External Flash Drive).
• UnionSine 4TB HDD (External HDD)
• Toshiba Canvio Advance 4TB HDD (Parity Drive).

Modern Modem with 4 ethernet ports, my ISP internet speed can't go faster than 700 Mb/s

Obviously i am able to connect any tb2 port (with an adapter) and ethernet port to my modem through ethernet connection, if needed. I understand that the devices used are really not ideal (external devices via USB or other means), but at this stage, I am trying to limit my budget by using what I have and making small steps toward.

HOW I INTEND TO CONFIG/REBUILD MY SERVER:

Macbook Pro:

• Obviously, connect the bootable USB flash drive to one of the USB port of the macbook for booting Unraid (Unraid has already been running on the macbook for almost a year) .
• Connect one of the Macbook's Thunderbolt 2 port to Ethernet adapter to my Modem for network connectivity.

Thunderbolt 2 Dock:

• Connect my external drives (External Flash Drive, External HDD, and Parity Drive) to the dock's USB 3.0 ports.
• Use a Thunderbolt 2 cable to connect one Thunderbolt 2 port on the dock to the Macbook.

ZimaBoard:

• Utilize the x4 SATA 6.0 Gb/s interfaces on the ZimaBoard to connect it directly to my SSD Drive, to the SSD Mcbook pro (through usb 3.0 port/adapter) and to the other tb2 port of the dock. 
• Using the Mini DisplayPort on the ZimaBoard and an appropriate adapter to connect to the hdmi port on the dock. This will allow to use the dock's Gigabit Ethernet port for dedicated network connectivity.

Network Configuration:

• Use the Macbook's Thunderbolt 2 to Ethernet adapter to connect directly to my home network for stable internet access.
• Connect one of the ZimaBoard's Gigabit Ethernet ports to my home network (modem/router) for additional network connectivity.
• Use the other Gigabit Ethernet port on the ZimaBoard to connect to the tb2 dock's Gigabit Ethernet port. This dedicated connection is for my Unraid server, ZimaBoard, and dock-connected devices. Creating a dedicated network connection between the ZimaBoard and the tb2 dock, ensuring efficient communication between devices.

Server Tasks:

• Use the SSD Drive and the SSD of the macbook as a cache pool in my Unraid configuration for fast read and write speeds.
• Use the zamiboard for all media-related processing (transcoding), downloading, and management before storing it in the array.
• Utilize the external HDDs and the 1 TB Patriot stick for array long-term storage.
• Setting up containers or virtual machines on the Zamiboard for downloading and processing tasks. Popular tools like Radarr, Sonarr, Sabnzbd, and Plex will be used for this purpose.
• Home Assistant to run in a VM on the Macbook Pro .

MY QUESTIONS:

- Does the foregoing make sense to you, are there material errors or ideas I should avoid? Or am I completely off track?

- Do you have any suggestion or recommandation to optimize the way my devices would be connected to each other, to ensure performance and minimum reliability?

- Do you recommend I keep CasaOS (native OS) on the ZimaBoard?

Thank you all very much in advance for you thoughts.