Recommended hardware for a server

[Leszek]

Hi everyone!

This question is for people whith some practice in running their own servers or to those who installed servers for others.I'm talking about all kinds of operating systems but mainly Linux.
I know that there isn't one precise recipe for building a server but i'd appreciate if You gave me some tips about it.
For example:
What hardware and Internet connection speed do I need to run a server using ISPConfig that would work without hanging and slowing down?
What should I do if it'll start slowing down because of an overload?

A server administrator has to deal with problems like that and work out a way not to let his customers complain.

Thanks for Your help.

[falko]

Originally Posted by Leszek

What hardware

That depends on how many web sites, users, etc. you want to host, and if the web sites make use of PHP/MySQL, or if they are in plain HTML.

Originally Posted by Leszek

and Internet connection speed do I need to run a server using ISPConfig that would work without hanging and slowing down?

If you want to do this as a business, you should put your server in a data center or rent a dedicated server instead of running a server in your home office on your DSL line.
Dedicated servers aren't that expensive, see http://www.hetzner.de/rootserver_en.html .

[Leszek]

I'll make myself clear this time.I was talking about a server with apache (PHP,MySQL),ftp,ssh2,email and offcourse ISPConfig.Everything would be installed according to your "Perfect setup" howto.Right now it would work for my family and friends but maybe it would evolve to something more serious.ISPConfig is a nice piece of software.
After I'll make a full Polish translation for it it'll be even more interesting for server administrators here in Poland.As soon as I finish i'll contact You or Till about it.
I'll have to read more about dedicated servers.

[falko]

If you just want to host a few web sites, a small server (like a Celeron 2000 with 512 MB RAM) should work. You can host it on your DSL line, but you should be aware that if your DSL line goes down, the web sites will be down, too, so this might work for private web sites, but not for businesses. Also, if your IP address changes whenever your router reconnects, you must change the DNS records for the domains you host (unless you use CName records).

[Ben]

The next prob is, that many server (e.g. mine ) block mails from dialup hosts, so for that it won't be a solution. But if you are not really sure how much you need, why don't you just try a cheap virtual server?