What do I need to know about running my own dedicated server (with windows 2008)

Question

I'm thinking of getting my own dedicated server with the following stats:

Processor: Celeron 440 2.0 GHz Memory: 1 GB Primary Hard Drive : 160 GB SATA II

This will be running Windows. I have some experience with my local IIS and playing around with servers, but I have never set one up (at least a Windows one) and I've never dealt with DNS/backup/security issues.

My question has two parts:

1. Will this server be able to run Windows 2008, SQL Server, and possible Exchange on it without trouble. I'm worried about the processor and RAM.

2. Are there any guides/tutorials that talk about how to admin a windows server from start to finish. (I'm looking for something like the FAQs slicehost has for *nix based servers).

Answer 1

It depends from user load. If you have about 1k unique users / month this means that probably, you will have 30 users per day - roughly 1 per hour. I think you will use more CPU working on this computer personally. So it really depends from user load.
If I were you, I would add more RAM to have something about 4 GB. RAM is the cheapest upgrade available.

Answer 2

You WILL run into a problems with RAM. Refer to MS documentation and minimum requirements (SQL Server and Exchange). Also please mind that new releases of Exchange run only on 64bit systems.

Personally I would recommend installing CORE version of W2K8 if you plan to go with your described configuration.

Answer 3

You state "I've never dealt with DNS/backup/security issues."

I would suggest to you that these are the most important issues. You need to stay on top of security, applying security patches, insuring firewalls are properly configured etc.

Having been called after the fact for websites that have been hacked, I can tell you it is not pretty. Learn all you can before you stand up this server on the internet.