Hi @WHBIO
A “Use Galaxy” choices overview was the focus of a very recent webinar. Perhaps it will help to make a decision about the best-fit Galaxy choice for you, plus others reading this topic later on. There are many ways to use Galaxy – the webinar was specifically about explaining/comparing the choices along with use-case examples. 
- Galaxy Webinar Announcement here at Galaxy Help:
- This Event’s Details: linked in the announcement above and here is the direct link. Includes slides and the recording.
As an aside, I also agree with @wm75 – you’ll need to pick a different way to use Galaxy if the goal is to perform more analysis. I’m not sure if your stated configuration is sufficient for using a local Galaxy as a way to backup data. But you can review and decide.
As general advice, it is usually a very good idea to keep regular local backups of important data/work – any web or cloud resource, not just Galaxy.
- A local Galaxy is a convenient way to review Galaxy data/work backups, in context, not just as files.
- Or, you can just backup work performed in Galaxy directly as archives/files (metadata related to Galaxy + the actual independent files). These are portable artifacts that can be loaded into any Galaxy (your own, or public sites).
- If you choose to do the first, also do the second. Getting data back out of a local Galaxy with 4 GB ram would almost certainly run into resource-related problems.
Thanks!