little update:
discovered that my 14T HDD is not bit locked - so whew!. Now it is really just getting stuff moved (outlook the largest data file) to the online platform and the task of getting transferred is pretty well under control.

Getting the apps etc reset within the Mac environment will be a structure as you go.

As to long term large storage - I am thinking of investing in an SSD type array. I will what and see before I go too hog wild.