what should I do to start a webserver??

[survivalhero]

Ok heres the deal I have a website running right now on a persons server so I would to move that to my sever or soon to be one, I just need help getting started and what I shoud do, The system or SERVER will be a p4 2.4, with a soyo mobo able to use 3 gigs of ram, ill probably get a 10-25 gig hard drive, some cheapo case and vid card will mx400, it will be directly connected with my linsys router, what should I use or get for a os I was thinking linux since its free ???? what should I do to keep my site from being bombarded by popups and for it be used to bounce sypware around??
anyway just the basic stuff can you help me out thanks again survival

[James T]

My own webserver is linux and apache with php (and mod_perl which I added). Running on a Pentium II 233MHz with a 4G hard disk. I don't have X installed on it.

As for security, simply place the appropriate configuration elements in /etc/apache/httpd.conf. Many of the defaults are fine, particularly if you don't have any private pages served.

As for spyware, depends on the type of apps you are serving. A version of phpBB has a security hole that is causing a little trouble at the moment, but basic html pages won't get you into any trouble.

Popups (as for spyware) are generally a client problem, not a server issue.

[survivalhero]

oh ok thanks that clears things up a bit so I guess im going with linux, which one should I use since I know there are a couple, anyway k with that configuring stuff ill ask my friend more into detail but he hasnt been on aim for a month thanks for the help.

[James T]

You'll get as many answers to that question as there are distributions. However if it's a really low powered PC and you can't fit X on it slackware is a good choice, it's not that it does have the pretty gui stuff, it's just that its philosophy is a little more based around text editing the configuration files.

[willy_ph]

While it may not be the easiest to install, I'd recommend putting Debian on that machine. Once up and running, it's rather easy to keep updated using apt-get.

[Siliconjunkie]

I have been using CentOS, which is a RedHat EL clone. Comes out of the box with yum setup. Another good option is White Box Enterprise Linux which is another RHEL clone.

Both stay as current as RedHat does for patches.

[survivalhero]

kk thanks guys anymore info and such greatly appreciated