You could use that 486 for a router/firewall

LOL, I did that to another 486 I had. I used Freesco. It worked, but I can only stand the hum of so many computers in the room, so its in the garage too. I went and bought a linksys router for that purpose. Much quieter.

Are you going to have access to another seperate computer with browser while you build this system?

yes, that's certainly not a problem. I've got a 2.6 GHZ w/ XP home for day to day computer use. An old 200 mhz for surfing on when my wife or kid has the good one, and a 4oo mhz in my office for doing AutoCAD work for side contract jobs that nobody touches (at their peril) but me. Since its an older version of AutoCAD it lives just fine on the 400 mhz WIN NT box. Sadly I haven't managed to get a network cable into that room yet, and I'm too cheap (and paranoid) to go wireless. I need to rectify that soon since the server is too loud for anywhere else in the house.

My wife knows I am a computer junkie and has learned to live with it. She accepts it since I only cough up money for equipment she uses. The rest I manage to get free (or near free) and tinker with till it works. So far I've managed to keep most of it out of site, earshot, and have reserved enough room in the garage for her to park her minivan. This keeps my marriage intact. :)

Thanks for the info, I'm going to start next weekend, while my wife is away. That gives me a week to study up.

-Steve G.