Steve,
The cheapest Redhat box will work fine.  You'll probably want to download the latest version of Apache and other programs anyway.  And if you go with Redhat, make sure you go with version 7.1.  Several other people mentioned that unless you have a tremendous amount of LAN traffic, a gigabit NIC isn't going to do much for you because the bottleneck is going to be your DSL connection.
Also, it sounds like there's a lot of interesting things you want to do with your Linux box, but if you're really a newbie, I would recommend that you pick up a book on setting up a Linux server and read it cover to cover.  There are a ton of good Linux books out there that should help you.  In addition, there is an enormous amount of information on the web.  The problem with us helping you, is that it's unlikely that we could be as comprehensive with our support as a book or an online HOWTO could be.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to brush you off by saying "RTFM", it's just that if you're starting out with Linux from scratch then a group like this is probably not the best way to get all your questions answered.  As you progress through your Linux setup, if you encounter strange issues or problems that you can't find in your books, etc., then we can be more helpful with specific issues.
Good luck.
~Matt


On Sun, 29 Jul 2001, steve wrote:

> I've just gotten a DSL line stuck in my house.  I have 3 PC's, 1 (New dual
> 533 G4)Mac and 1 New G4 Mac Powerbook laptop.  I haven't done anything yet.
> One of the clones has Red Hat 5.2/WIN 98(P I 166), 2nd one has WIN98(P II
> 350), the third clone is a AMD Duron 800 and has no OS on it.  I want to
> use it as a firewall and webserver, so I went to Fry's Electronics and I
> found there are 3 Redhat boxes. A standard for $39.00, and workstation for
> $79.00 and a Professional server for $169.00.
> I also found that Netgear has a 1000 mbps ethernet card there for 149.00
> but they did not have any 1000 mbps switches available.
> Questions:
> 
> 1.) Is the Professional server worth buying?
>     a.)Do I need it for what I want to do.
>     b.)can I buy the cheap one and download all
>        the other stuff packaged with the Pro Server
>        or enough RPM's to get what I need.
> 
> 2.) Without getting too bogged down with the Hardware
>    compat list at Redhats site, has anyone had any great
>    successes with 1000mbps ether cards and swithes or
>    horr stories they want to share. 
> 
> I want the Mac to run as a game server for the new game Never Winter Nights
> when it ships with up to 64 people on it at one time.  It already has a gig
> ether card in it. I want it to sit behind a Linux Redhat firewall as well
> has I'm tire of paying to host my website, so the 3rd clone would be
> perfect for a firewall/webserver. I'm too in-experienced to know exactly
> which Redhat package I should get, or where to start, so some direction
> would be nice if you have the time.
> 
> Many thanks.
> Steve
> 
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