Docker vs normal install

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Most of that sounds like bare metal. Docker will have you learn more about Docker networking than Linux networking, but it requires a small amount of knowledge in both spaces. Samba isn't really a containerized application, nor is performance monitoring (though it is certainly an option). Only way I found to easily run an AI model in Docker is via Nextcloud, which I had set up successfully prior to the most recent upgrade with both GPT-4 and Stable Diffusion, although you can absolutely use llama if you'd like. There is not a clean way to run a VM of Ubuntu in a Docker container, although there are some interesting workarounds out there. You'd be better off with remote access via VPN.

Sounds like bare metal might be the way to go at the moment since most of your aims align better with that. If you ever decide to run a bunch of things (e.g., Wireguard node, VPN for services/containers, Servarr suite, Nextcloud, Matrix server), then I'd say you should look at docker-compose. For now, sounds like you may want to keep it simple unless you find something that steers you towards Docker.