All I need is to plug it in and I can sell url's and space on it?

As you can tell I dont know much about it, but am I on the right track?

Thanks.

Why dont you volunteer it for Arfkom backup duty?

Thats one of the things I was thinking about.

But like I said, I dont know much about them and looking for someone to steer me in the right direction.

1) you must maintain the hardware and update the software

2) you must have a big enough internet connection (Servers are most likely against your contract if using cable, however DSL should be fine for small stuff) Most likely with a static(non-changing) IP address if you want things simpler

3) Firewall of some sort

4) registered domain name to amke visits to the computer easier

that should give you a start....

That's a commercial DSL line, not the ones you get for $40 for home use. It's in the user agreement that you can't set up a commercial enterprise using the home usage link.

  M4, I admin about 10 servers doing various and sundry things, and I've been doing it about 7 years for one place or another.  One of the places I worked (hey, times were tight) was a small BS ISP that hosted servers like you're talking about.  I've got a few items I'd like to pass on, but please understand I'm not trying to piss in your cheerios or attack your intelligence, perseverence, or ability. I've just "been there, done that". Your mileage may vary, use only as directed.

1) There is little chance you will be able to break even on such a venture.  More likely, between bandwidth, hardware, and all the other crap, you'll end up in the hole.  Competition is fierce, and a lot of it can guarantee a lot more than you will be able to.  

2) You don't need a Dellpaq OptiStore 4,000,000.5 server box to "run a server".  Some of my favorite websites are run from boxes that were designated webservers because they had outlived their useful life as desktops. (check www.attrition.org) Bandwidth is the most common bottleneck, and unless you're doing a lot of encrypted stuff, that extra processor and the 4 gigs of ram won't matter.

3) You don't want to learn to be an admin on your own machine.  Sometimes, computer mistakes are expensive ;)

4) Backups are the most important maintinance item, vital in case of serious problems. They never work. (ok, they DO, but nothing beats the sinking feeling of having a dead hard drive AND a despooled backup tape)

5) You need a firm understanding of security before you start serving.  It's amazing how slow a box can get when half of Taiwan is illicitly using it as a warez dropbox.
 
 Whatever you decide to do, I wish you good luck with it.  I personally find the challenge of such projects to be all the return I need, but I'm a real geek that way.

 Heheheh.. Worked for one that advertised that way.. "offsite backups" rode around in the boss' glove box "Redundant hardware" was a closet full of stuff either broken, old, or unknown. "Environmentally controlled server room" was a closet with industrial rack shelving, a window-mount AC, and two box fans. "Generator backup" came from a fluky, hand-cranked generator that looked like it had been bought as military surplus sometime soon after World War 2.

 "Security" was a hollow-core closet door with a lock knob, and regular service outages could be expected whenever the owner "forgot" to pay his upstream, which was frequently. The basement was in a constant flood state, the place was infested with a wide variety of insects.. It was a blast.  Glad I moved on!!

I was going to chime in, but a lot of people have discussed the pitfalls.

The main difference between home lines (DSL and Cable) and commercial connections is guaranteed bandwidth.  

Most home broadband connections are asymmetric these days.  There is a reason for that.  Mainly it is to discourage wannabe servers pumping data to the web.  By throttling the upstream speed, they can make it painful for someone to run a successful pr0n site off comcast or sbc DSL.

As Troy mentioned, a T1 is an absolute minimum, and that is only 1.544 mbit up and down.  That is good to host about 30 consecutive heavy users of data (56-64kb streams without lag and delay).  

To run a site like ar15.com realistically needs a T3/DS3 connection.  Around 45mbit should handle most of the needs.

That gets mighty expensive, and is one reason why I do not mind kicking in $$ annually to help with the bandwidth/op expenses.

I can go into pages worth of why DSL (consumer grade) is crappy for a real web server...  

Geoff