You've decided on an OS, and have become familiar with the command line. What next?

With the amazing amount of configurations available today, it can be hard to decide which features to include with your server. Let's look at the three basics :

The Amount of RAM

Your operating system needs RAM to manage the server load. My basic rule, and the most common agreement among server techs is - "the more RAM, the better". And that is true. RAM prices are so cheap today, that it really is not beneficial to run a server with less than 512M. Over time your server operating system will use and manage as much RAM as it can (or is allowed - but we'll save that for another discussion).

CPU

The Central Processing Unit in general - does all the math. Again - with hosting prices so cheap, it's easy to set a baseline of at least 1.8Ghz in speed.

Why?

More often times than not - when you lease a server, it's a desktop machine, with minimal optimization adjustments to 'tell it' to act like a server. If you lease a bottom line unit with a bottome line CPU, you get what you pay for - a desktop computer with no processing power. Spend the extra few dollars to have the optimized 'desktop server' with increased processing speed, and you'll often get all the benefits of newer technologies.

Network and Bandwidth

Having a super heated machine won't mean anything if your hosting provider does not have a good network of backbone providers. Without making this portion of the article confusing, you'll simply want to ensure that your host choice is not too far down the stream food chain. The closer they are to a major connection to the internet backbone, and the quality of their connection to those peers, the better off you will be.

Bandwidth is the amount of data transfer you will be allocated with your server. Most providers calculate bandwith as the amount of data to and from your server. Check with your potential provider for full details. As with RAM, the more bandwith you can get, the better. It is so inexpensive as of late, that it's important you don't undercut yourself on a package. Doing so will actually cost you more in the long run because hosting companies charge a premium for overages. Rule of thumb - look for no less than 300G month if you are just starting out. It's alot - and you'll be glad you did.

Next Week : Getting your own server Part II