Thinking about getting a server...

[lazer_viking]

I've used my laptop as a server for weeks, and I think it's time to get a real one.
(Sorry if this is the wrong forum.. it was either internet Q&A... and this is more hardware related than just internet)
What kind of server do you think I need? I do file hosting for my friend, a personal site with all my latest learnings and such (when i learn a nifty new CSS thing or something i use it on that site, i host a guild website with a forum and the works, and.. yea. last month i used 457 MB of bandwidth. my sites arent very busy.... so... yea....
we have a normal cable connection, but i don't know the absolute speed of it.
So, my question is, what kind of hardware do I need? Does it need to be semi-fancy stuff like an AMD 4800+ and a WD raptor 10k rpm and some ocz super low latency ddr500 stuff? or what? what would give me good performance? i didn't think servers needed to have top of the line equipment in them, but i saw some servers that had some really nice components and i was like "why does it need all that?" so yea lol im confused.
for the things that I just listed, what kind of parts do you think I need? I already have some cheapo motherboard, if we were planning on building it. personally, i want to build it but my dad wants to get a used one off ebay.

 

[macdude425]

The greater the traffic+the greater the connection=the faster computer you need.

So, if you have a T1 connection and thousands of requests a day, then you'd need an Opty/Xeon. But for what you need, an X2, 1.5 GB of RAM and ONE Raptor should be more than enough.

 

[lazer_viking]

oh? thats more than i thought i needed. i was just looking at stuff and this is what i came up with
X2 3800+
Corsair 512MB stick
250GB Seagate HD
some random 350w PSU

it all totaled up to about 315$ you're saying this isnt enough bang for something that just sends files to people?

 

[macdude425]

I'd go to 1GB just for good measure. I just threw in the Raptor because I have an obsession with fast harddrives Everything else would be fine.

 

[lazer_viking]

haha okay thanks alot =)

 

[lazer_viking]

Acutally, I have one more question. I have a hosting company right now, but I want to get away from them since I think I can do most of the stuff I do there myself on my own server. (lets not turn this into a self-hosting vs. 3rd party hosting thread. i saw waaayyy too many of those already while i was googling about this).
Suppose I do get my own ded. server and I get everything all set up with Linux and SQL and PHP and all the goodies... I'd still be stuck with the old 67.170.117.94 IP address.. How can I bind my new domain name to the server? Don't you need two IP addresses from the server? I don't have static IP addresses... all I have is this one IP address shared among my computers. I would just open port 80 to the server. But... I'm just really confused.. what is a name server for anyway?

 

[lazer_viking]

bump on the domain question

 

[Blind_Arrow]

if you arnt running many sripts and running daabase, then P-3 1Ghz will b more than enough.

 

[Blind_Arrow]

this IP address isnt like shared, your PC's are using NAT.

anyway, you dont need 2 IP addreses, only open port 80 on your server, and rest for hosting more sites, you have to give seperate Alias. there are sites that update your DNS records even if you are on Dynamic IP