I’m new to this, and having a lot of fun.
I started with the Blackview MP80 running Ubuntu(Minecraft server on docker and Home Assistant in a VM)
Then I bought the BMAX for 82€ and moved HA on to it so I can wipe the MP80 and play around with Proxmox and Nextcloud erc without breaking my home automations.
Yesterday I got the Hardkernel H4+ with 16gb ram and 2x 6TB 2nd hand commercial grade HDD’s (testing them now, 3 month guarantee)
Looking forward to setting up ZFS pools for the first time, ans probably move my Nextcloud AIO over to the TrueNAS app
Yeah knocking them over while active would probably not be the best, you can even hear the stress on the spindle bearings if you rotate a running hard drive. However you should be free to mount them (securely) in almost any orientation given the discussion in this old post: https://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21533&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0