[mdlug] linux hardware

[epic wamz]

I've been asked by a friend who is running a small business to help him purchase and setup a linux server. I'm kind of known as a linux evangelist, so it makes sense why he asked me, but I don't know much about purchasing server hardware, and frankly I haven't built a computer from the ground up in a good 6-7 years.

So, I thought I would drop a quick message to see if someone could give me any advice. I'm not asking for you to do the research for me, but a gentle nudge in a good direction would be appreciated.

My friend wasn't specific about the server capabilities he needs. He has a growing technology business and wants to be as agile as possible. Sounds like it could be used as a web server, subversion repo, and used for virtualization among other things. I'm not really looking to build from scratch, so any advice on where to go, or tips when buying a system would be most welcome.

The budget is $500 +/- $100.

Again, I would appreciate any insight you might have. Thank you in advance.

Ryan