Hello, I'm about to purchase (lease) a dedicated box that is offshore and will be given to me fairly raw (well, nothing more than the OS of my preference). What I need to do with this server is install all the necessary components for a hosting solution (dns/apache/ftp/php/etc). I'm looking to get a Linux OS for stability, but to this point I've only been a Win32 user... I'm a complete newb when it comes to anything like this. So, what I'm looking for is an individual who is well-versed in this area, and can dictated if not completely guide me through the setup of these components to get this box up and online. I am unquestionably willing to pay for your time if you're the person to help me do this; think of it as a paid mentorship I hope to learn the basic ins and outs through this project so I can continue to grow in knowledge on my own and, if necessary, repeat this process on new servers. I can pay through PayPal, Epassporte, Fethard, eGold, whatever. Contact me via PM if you can do this for me and we can discuss the details over the messenger service of your preference. Kind Regards
Check the Howto section for "The Perfect Setup" for the distro of your choice. Most of the mods here (and me too) suggest Debian Etch. the howto will walk you through the whole process.
Will the tutorials teach you through the perspective of remote access? I checked the Fedora 7 one before entering the forum and it seemed to be not from that perspective.
Most of the perfect setups that you will find in the Howtos will work for your. However.. For the 1st part of the setup you will need physical access to the server as you will need to put the CD/DVD in the drive, and set some values (like language, server name, partitions, etc.) Once this is done, and the server has been rebooted, you will be able to set (and install) all the other stuff remotely (you have full contoll of it)
before getting your own server you could setup VmWare on your local machine, download the debian install-cd and do a virtual install of the howto so you will know how it's going.