Expaining SERVER

_-= Introduction =-_
Well it's been a while since I've cranked out a tutorial, so I thought it was time to get to it. During the last Spring Break I setup my first personal server (and would have had my second one up, but had some RAM issues...), and found that there really wasn't any guides out there to help people get started. Server's are dead useful, and in the following guide you'll learn how to setup your own dirt cheap.

_-= Up Front Q and A =-_
Q: What exactly is a server?
A: Simply put a server is a computer that hosts some sort of data, and makes it available for access across a LAN or the Internet.

Q: So what do I need in order to have a server?
A: You need the following things
- A high speed connection. (Cable/DSL or faster)
- Something to split your internet connection, such as router. (If you don't own a router, and you have a high speed connection I suggest you buy one off of http://newegg.com)
NOTE: you don't necessarily 'need' something to split your internet connection, but why would you only want a server to be the only thing that can get online?

Q: Isn't it really hard to setup a server?
A: No, not really. Provided you read this guide it should be relatively easy.

Q: Aren't servers really expensive?
A: No, you could pay for a hard core $1,000 server board, but actually you can build a server relatively cheap.

Q: Will my network speeds dramatically drop if I host a file?
A: No, probably not. It all depends on what you are hosting. For example if you decide it'll be fun to stream out video files, then yes that'll suck up your bandwidth. More or less though, you should be fine.

Q: Do I need an ultra fast computer to use as a server?
A: No, not at all. It's not so much the machine that is important, but the pipe that it's hooked to. As you'll read below, not much computing power is needed in order to maintain a server.

_-= Basic Requirements =-_
The following are the MINIMUM (according to my standards) requirements for a server.
- A CPU running at 233 MHz
- 64 Megs of RAM
- A Network Card (NIC)
- A 5 Gig Hard Drive (HDD)
- A 315 Watt PSU

I know now, that some of you are asking yourselves, "What about a video card or CD Drive?" Like I said before this is for a barebones server, you don't 'need' a CD Drive or Video Card. You would just borrow the CD Drive and Vide Card from your PC to install an OS, and to setup remote administration.

What I suggest, for a cheap server is the following.
- A 350 MHz Pentium II CPU
- 128 Megs of RAM
- A 10 Gig Hard Drive
- A decent NIC
- A 315 Watt PSU
- A cheap AGP Video Card (Unless the motherboard has onboard graphics.)

_-= Lets Shop =-_
There are actually two paths to travel when setting up a server. You either buy an older PC, or buy the parts to build one. Or if you just have an old PC gathering dust, then use that and move ahead to the 'Choosing an OS' section.

- If you want to just skip the whole building process and get a pre built PC, then I have one word for you. Optiplex. Yes, the little PC's who could the Dell Optiplex's. If you search ebay for 'Pentium II Optiplex', you'll find some stellar deals. I myself bought one for $20 and it came with a 4 Gig hard drive, onboard graphics, decent NIC, CD drive, 350 MHz Pentium II, and 64 Megs of RAM. (If you decide to do this, head on down to the 'Choosing an OS' section.)

- Now if you want to go the extra mile and be a man about this, then I suggest you purchase a few things off of ebay.
- 350Mhz Pentium II CPU: Costs on average $2
- A motherboard designed to use the above mentioned CPU.
NOTE: Make sure you buy a motherboard that comes with some RAM. You don't want to spend a ton of time trying to hunt down the proper RAM for it. (Trust me): Costs on average about $10
- A 315 Watt PSU: Costs about $10
- A Network Card: I've seen them as low as $5
- A 10 Gig Hard Drive: You can probably find them for about $15
- Optional: A cheap case. I suggest you just buy a refurbed one from http://newegg.com

_-= It's Building Time! =-_
Now once you've gathered your parts, hook them up. If you bought a case then take the wires with the jumpers on the ends, and attach them to their corresponding pins. You may have to do some Trial/Error work to find the right pins. However, if you decided to be cheap and skip out on buying a case, then find yourself a jumper. NOTE: If you are fresh out of jumpers go buy some from you local computer store. Now once you've got your jumper attach it to the two pins that you'd attach the leads from the Power switch of a case to. Again, you may need to use some Trial/Error work to find the right pins. (now the switch on the PSU will be the only switch for turning the machine off and on.) Another optional step, if you don't have case, is to design some sort of enclosure for the PC (You know to protect it.) Legos are always good for this. (Don't laugh, one of Google's first servers was housed in legos.)

_-= Choosing an OS =-_
Now, you have basically two choices.
- Windows: If you aren't to savvy to Linux and you don't want to learn, then I suggest you "buy" a copy of Win2k Server Edition.
- Linux: In reality, Linux is a much better choice for an OS. You can easily administrate over it via SSH, and of course everyone knows penguins are cooler than windows. I suggest you use Slackware if you are going to use Linux.

_-= Things to Host =-_
Well now that you've got a sexy new server, I bet you are looking for some cool things to do with it. So here are a few ideas for things to use it for.
- Web Page Hosting
- Internet Radio Station (Using shoutcast)
- Game Server
- File Server
- IRC Server
- SSH

_-= My Last Hoorah =-_
This section will cover the basics of forwarding ports. First thing is first, the most important thing you need to do now that you've setup your server, is to forward the proper ports to it. Now port forwarding can be tricky business, and there have been several guides written specifically on port forwarding. However, instead of giving you some general directions. So, head on over to http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm and find your router, and follow it's guide.

_-= Links and Resources =-_
- Ebay http://ebay.com/ : The best place to find hard to find stuff, it's cheap to boot.
- Newegg http://newegg.com/ : The best place to buy new and refurbed computer hardware. and the prices are awesome.
- Apache http://apache.org/ : The best HTTP server software out there. (Though any good Linux distro comes with it.)
- Slackware http://slackware.org/ : The home page for the Slackware Linux Distrobution.
- Shoutcast http://shoutcast.com/ : The home page for the shoutcast audio stream program.
- Guild FTP http://www.guildftpd.com/ : The best FTP Server Daemon for Windows.
- Google http://google.com/ : The best answer finder out there.
- Godaddy http://godaddy.com/ : The best place to get cheap domain names (I got mine for $10 a year.)