Starting Hosting

Hi. Im looking at taking an old p2 with 256mb of sdram and hosting a few small websites on it. I design websites, but now I want to be able to host my clients also. Im getting tired of godaddy. I have enough space and everything. I was thinking about hosting it on a windows network but the computer would be running freebsd or linux. Anyone have any free linux os' that have some software i can use to host them? I need it to be http and ftp hosting. No email. DNS hosting and mysql. Anyone have any ideas or is this impossible. The modem is running ~3Mbps down and 380Kbps up. These website get little traffic so i should be fine on that. Please respond quickly.

Ok well I just need some pointers. Im going to install red hat linux on that machine and see how it goes. Im know nothing about linux so please tell me, does it come with any software that i can use to host it with?

If you do not know anything about Linux then don't do it. You will be getting in over your head and end up with too many problems.

Running a server for hosting in a secure manner and making sure it is reliable is more than just plugging it in and installing Linux. If you do not know what you are doing all you will end up with is a server with lots of downtime and unhappy clients.

Well i have a copy of red hat ready to install to it. I dont want to have to buy an os sense im running on about a $0 profit right now and dont have any money to invest. Im willing to try linux. I have a for dummies book on red hat so i should learn the basics before I try hosting. I just need someone to point me in the right direction.

Having a copy of RedHat and a "For Dummies" book does not mean you are ready for starting your own hosting company. To do it properly you need experience in running a server.

Install RedHat, get to know it. Learn how to set it up as a webserver and then try and run 1 site and the server for a period of time (3-6 months) and get a feel for how it works. Make sure you install updates during that time and keep the latest stable versions of software on the machine.

Once you have managed to keep the server online for that amount of time you can start thinking about setting up a server for hosting other people's websites.

Ok Im going to a computer store to buy the latest redhat copy. Im going to install it, scew around in it, and maybe mess with xwindows too. Now Im planning on using apache like most of the other people so where is the apache stuff located?

Second lesson is to learn how to use google.

Lol i already found something this morning. Just at first I wasnt searching for the right thing.

Google is all you need to learn about this

Why not a dedicated server or colocation? much more reliable, better network, and everything is settled with you

Now that I look at it, I would like colocation. What am I allowed to do in colocation? Can I physically goto the datacenter and set up my server myself? What type of computer could I put there? Would I have to buy everything through them? How much would the lowest monthly cost be for colocation and could you point me to someone that does it?

Depending on where you have colocation you can go down and visit it.

You will need to find someone local then.