Ubuntu small-office server

People have asked me to share my experiences setting up my own Ubuntu-based small-office server. So at the risk of being boring, I'll try to explain the "why" and "how" of setting up such a system.

What is a "small-office server" and why would I want one?

First, the "what". A "small-office server" as I'm using the phrase means a computer which runs:

• a web-server (so you can publish content on the internet easily)
• an email-server (so you can send and receive emails without using another service)

It's possible to run other services as well (and I do), but for the moment these are the main ones which might be of interest to you.

Answering the "why" is a bit more difficult, and it depends on your circumstances.

Reasons you may want to have your own web-server:

• you don't want to spend $$$ on a commercial provider, and you have a spare computer
• you are concerned that your provider is perhaps not so careful as you might be with your data's privacy
• you need to run some application, but your provided will not run it (or will only run it if you pay much more $$$)

Reasons you may want to run your own mail server:

• you are very concerned about maintaining privacy or confidentiality of your mail (business information, etc)
• you want 100% control over your email accounts (perhaps you want to keep backups of email, for instance, where the company can get them when an employee leaves)