Well, I got my dedicated servers. Eman, Tony, Ben, Josh...all you guys are great. Even those I neglected to mention. Thanks so much for your help.
As far as the server itself goes, I think its sufficient for what I'm doing right now. I run a ventrilo server, teamspeak server, small ircd, and hosting about 15 sites now. My ram usuage might be just over 40% and my CPU, of course, rarely has a idle of less than 95%. When on irc, i ping 60, when I ping the server in windows, I average 63, and on team speak and vent, I'll get between 60-70. That is connected to all at the same time.
I think its really the support that makes the final decision of getting a dedicated server with surpass. These guys are great, and rather friendly, especially Sulema in billing. They are still only human so mistakes happen here and there, but I try and keep my patience with them.
qwertyb, depending on what you're planning to do with your server, I'd so go ahead and get signed up and logged in. You'll probably enjoy the challenge and freedom.
Its funny, I've talked to unleashed a few times on IM, and I remember reading one of his threads where he said ssh was fun...I've messed with ssh before on home linux servers and I've never though it to be fun. But, with my current experiences with this phpsuexec thing and being forced to admin the server and its users with limited tools is pretty cool. Mind you, these tools definately simplify carrying out tasks. But unlike being at home, I can't just say screw it and reboot into windows and do it later. Kudos to Aric too for writing that great manual. I've read it twice now and feel pretty confident on my managing skills. Just only wish it was more up to date. Anyway, anymore questions, lemme know
thanks guys, again for answering my questions and helping me out.