Home server - what do I want?

[robkelk]

Serving databases is an ENTIRELY different animal from what you want.  You want a file/web server, not a DB server.  Much cheaper and easier.

That's what I thought, which is why I asked when Ankhani suggested SQL.

(Sure, I could use a DB server for a different project down the road, but it would still need a front-end to the 'net... which is why I mentioned the wiki server in my original post.)

As for firewalls, I'd say you should plunk down a software firewall on the server, and do some aggressive port blocking on your router.  Between the two of those, you'll get some quite decent security.

I fully intend to use a deny/allow security structure (deny everything that isn't explicitly allowed), not the too-common and too-insecure allow/deny structure (allow everything that isn't explicitly denied - who came up with that bit of idiocy for a world-readable system?).
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012