Few months ago I have setup just a small dedicated server at my office with the help of PC, Router, Broadband connection with static IP. I have setup a complete dedicated server just like one at real data center. I have just build this for test purpose.
I have made my server continuously live for one month under observation with power backup and cooling equipment. I have attached one domain on my server to see how it behaves and result was really amazing. Website loads as quick as it is hosted on real profession dedicated server. I have test this with at a time 8 to 10 ping request and it loads very quickly. As I assume my server can easily handle 20 to 30 requests at a time.
I have used basic system config with all freely available software like Centos as a OS and Kloxo as a control panel. Now I also want to setup now fully functional mini data center at my home's basement with 8 to 10 systems. I will hire few people for monitoring my data center.
Since you are starting a Mini Data Center i would recommend Linux OS they are open source OS there is not much red tape for the licensing like Windows.
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