[thelist] Need some tips on setting up a dotcom [hardware related]...

[Michael Galvin]

[Welcome back to me - I've been out of the web design 'business' for many
months, and consequently haven't needed the enviable talents of thelist's
subscribers.  I'm not fully back in, but things are looking up]

Now that I've been gloriously made unemployed, I've been kicking around an
idea I had for a dotcom last year.  Yeah, the timing sucks, but I think that
the idea is a goer, and if I get any sort of backing at all, I reckon it
could take off big time.

To that end, I need to get some ideas on the hardware and costs involved.
Ideally, I would start with just taking up space on an ISP's server (get my
own domain, and get them to host it).  If things go well, then pretty soon,
I could see getting my own webserver.  Would it be more cost efficient to
get co-location in an ISP (what do you end up paying for?  Just the
co-location charges and admin rates - do they still charge for traffic?) or
set it up "at home" with a T1 (or similiar) connection to the ISP (or would
it be directly to the telephone company?).  What would be the advantages of
each method?  Would I be better off (assuming sufficient cash reserves) to
go directly to the second phase, and not bother with getting a hosting plan
with some ISP?

In the office, I'll need to get a webserver of my own (we'll be using php
over SQL, I'd say, so I'll need it for testing).  Would a re-tooled 486 with
Apache and Linux installed suffice as an 'at home' webserver?  If I am using
php (comes w/Linux, right?) would mySQL be better (and cheaper) than SQL
Server.

What I basically need to come up with is a shopping list of hardware and
software required to start a dotcom.  If there's anyone out there who's been
through all this before and knows the pitfalls the avoid (not of starting a
dotcom, but of getting the necessary hardware) and has any good tips, I'd
sure appreciate them.

Thanks
Michael