If you're super new to all of this, check out Yunohost. You can either run it on Debian 11 or use their own OS image. Its a simple UI interface and makes apps deployable with one click. Doesn't support everything but I have this running beside my docker just because it's so dang easy to use and maintain.
I might roll with this configuration. Only problem has been getting the Yunohost image to work via thumbdrive. Might go the Debian 11 to Yunohost route.