Starting from scratch what is best way to deploy to a dedicated machine

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I just purchased a Lenovo m93p (2.9GHz i5-4570T, 8GB Ram) + Aeon Gen5 Z-Wave Stick. I have a few RPi3 but figured if I snag a dedicated machine to run as a HA server I should be set for awhile.
I have a few questions. The main question is what would everyone suggest is the best way to deploy HA or HASS.IO.
Should I just installed Ubuntu 16.04 server on it. Then follow the installation up with installing hassio as a docker image?
I am new to Docker yet see it kicked around here quite often.

Maybe it would help if you know my existing setup as well.
I curently run a vera plus (basic stuff lighting and door sensors).
I have an outbuilding on my property which I have extended fiber from my home to outbuilding (over 300’ and using media converters to tie it into my existing home network).
I hope to be able to automate the garage doors and lights in outbuilding as well.
I hope to finally make use of my monoprice 6-zone system in my home. I read that this makes use of a Docker image as well.

I am hoping someone can chime in and let me know what is my best route to go as far as installation goes.
Should I just install ubuntu server and run individual docker images for everything or is there a better route?
Keeping in mind I am new to Docker (litteraly read about it hours ago).

I would love to hear other ideas (as I would rather do it right from the start vs. re-build months down the road).
Thanks,
Neil

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Yes

This is actually my preference. I don’t have to wait on hassio updates, the straight home assistant docker container usually has updates immediately available, whereas sometimes, hassio requires a few extra days for an update to occur. But I understand Docker, so it isn’t an issue with me to set up my own system/environment in Docker.

I would suggest setting that up and learning it

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Or follow the Pi approach and install in a a Python virtual environment.

You do lose the simplicity of the add-ons, but you gain flexibility to get things working.

There’s no right answer here, it’s personal preference for the trade offs.

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I got her all up and running. Now to tackle getting usb to serial working and talking to my monoprice 6 zone receiver (ill have some reading of understanding node.js ahead of me).
Thanks for giving me confidence to get this thing running! I am loving it so far.
Neil