INTRODUCTION TO A SERVER

A server is a computer that hosts some sort of data, and makes it available for access, across a LAN or the Internet.

There is a major misunderstanding in regard to servers among people i.e "a server is very difficult and costly to set up." Actually it's true for only an extent which means costly servers sre needed only when a large amount of internet traffic is expected and some others reasons too. This means you can set up a small server in your home too.Game servers are an ideal example.You can host multiplayer games on your server. Now lets come to the main job and set up a server.

Things To Be Considered:

NETWORK REQUIREMENTS
- A high speed connection. (Cable/DSL or faster)
- Something to split your internet connection, such as router(a router is something through which you can split your internet connection).You can get a router at http://newegg.com after spending a few bucks unless you have one.
NOTE: You need to split your internet connection so that you can share the internet from the same computer with your server and surf while your server is running.

MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS (according to me):
- A CPU running at 350 MHz will do fine
- 256 Mbs of RAM
- A Network Card (NIC)
- A 10 Gb Hard Drive (HDD).
- A 315 Watt PSU
- An AGP Video Card (It's not needed nowdays as most of the motherboards today have onboard graphics.)

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
You have basically two choices for an Operating system:

- Windows: If you are not familiar with Linux, then you should buy a copy of any Windows Server Edition operating systems.Use atleast Win2k Server Edition or higher.

- Linux: If you ask me then i suggest Linux is a better choice for an OS. The reason is one can easily administrate over it and it's "totally free". I suggest you use "Ubuntu server edition" cause it's the latest version of Linux. You can easily get a copy of it at "The ubuntu website" as an image file in iso format which is totally free or "order a cd of it for a nominal charge".


HOSTING & NETWORK SPEED EVALUATION:
Your network speed depends on what you host, e.g if you are hosting some sort of video files it will consume more bandwidth than file hosting. So basically what you will host depends on your bandwidth.

Now you must be thinking what you can host on your newly setup server.the answer is here:

-Game server > You can use your server for hosting multiplayer games and enjoy with your friends on the network.
-Internet Radio Station >Your server can also be used for an Internet Radio Station by using shoutcast.( http://shoutcast.com/ : This is the home page for the shoutcast audio stream program.)
-A File Server >Using your server as a file server is a good choice if you have a slow bandwidth.
-Audio and video stuff >Hosting Audio and Video stuff should be considered only if you have a good bandwidth, that's because this stuff soaks up more bandwith than others (game servers too need more bandwidthdepending on the game type).
-Web page hosting >This is also a good choice if you are ready to spend some extra bucks for more space and faster processors. More space is needed because you have to provide it to your clients in return for some cash.

BASICS OF FORWARDING PORTS:
The most important thing you need to do after you've setup your server, is to forward the proper ports to it. As i have found, the best place to learn about forwarding ports is http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm. There find your router, and follow it's guide