I decided to ask both of my questions in two separate threads

I would like to read people's thoughts and opinions on running a server, from people who currently have a server up and running, to people who've had experience in the field.

I ask simply because sometime in the future, I may want to run my own server so that I may host my own websites and other things on it. I am currently building a large scale community website, that I have some high hopes for, and hope I can make it successful. Should it become a hit, perhaps a shared web host that I am on could not handle the traffic and it would result in having to switch, which may cost more money, but having it on a server, it could be a whole different matter.

If I could read some of your thoughts and opinions, as well as maybe some up sides and down sides to running a server over having a shared host, as well as your own experiences, I would be grateful as I am very curious on this matter.

Thank you!

- Chris

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Not quite a n00b...