im am very new to linux red hat, this is my second day. and i have got red hat so i could set up an web server and have no idea on how. if anyone could walk me through the basics it would be wonderful. thank you

You can get the basics by downloading an Apache HTTP Server installation, and reading the documentation that comes with it, as well as thoroughly perusing the Apache Project website. Apache is (the) most popular webserver, and is used by something like 60 or 70% of the production servers on the planet. It is relatively easy to set up, and VERY well documented.
After getting the basics from the documentation, installing it on your machine, and attempting to configure it using the well commented httpd.conf file, if there is stuff you don't understand or need help with, please ask and someone will be happy to try to address your problem.

were would i be likley to find this documentation and downloads?

Google "Apache Project"

alright, stupid question but how do i download it from a mirror? i feel pretty stupid. but everyone starts somewere.

http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi

The above link is to the download page, from whence one could download various versions of Apache. READ that page. You will see that it tells you what is the LATEST/BEST version of Apache released.

So Select a mirror that appeals to you, or is geographically near you, and then below the MIRROR selection, choose a version to download. From what I see there, you can download either a tar.gz archive, or a tar.bz2 archive. It's a matter of preference, however the bz2 archive will be smaller in size, if you're concerned about downloaad time. Also download or save the PGP and MD5 files listed beside the download you choose. Those will be used to verify that your download is not corrupt, and that it has not been tampered with.

May I suggest, that if you are new to Linux, your first course of action should not be to set up a HTTP server. You should spend a significant amount of time learning about your RedHat operating system first. THEN when you are comfortable with its operation and administration, THEN try going for a server installation.
I should add too, that many Linuxes, though I am not CERTAIN about Redhat, already contain an implementation of Apache. Perhaps yours does too.

how would i know if it was already installed on my machine?

Read the documentation included with your distribution, or if you must, go to distrowatch and look up your installed operating system, and examine the "included packages".

You can find distrowatch by Googling "Distrowatch" or checking the links to the right of this page for one which looks as though it might have descriptions of various popular distros.

im so lost. alright so apache is what? and i dont understand how to install it. someone please come to the rescue

Ok so which Redhat version are you running? Apache is the webserver application and its service name is called httpd. Just to repeat what GrapefruiTgirl has stated that most distributions will load apache with its default installation. All you have to do is start it and/or configure it to start at boot. Post the version and we can provide some additional help.

Open up a browser and type

http://localhost:80


in the address bar

May I ask, what is the intended purpose of this webserver? I mean, will it be run from your home? What kind of internet connection have you got for it? What sort of content will it host, and to whom will it be available?
Starting the httpd service is ONE thing, and a relatively easy one thing, but I figure you have a LOAD of reading and learning to do before you have much hope of running a server. Let me equate the situation to something like this:

So you can drive a car; This is like being able to use Windows. Now, someone sits you in the cockpit of a passenger airplane. It isn't a car, and there is a lot of stuff you have to learn, to get the airplane to do anything useful.

I am not trying to be harsh, and please don't take my comments that way, but I feel you have no clue what it is that you are trying to do, nor any idea what is involved. Reading all the documentation you can find, is a good place to start, and when you realize that you are often reading stuff that you already read somewhere else, THEN you may have some idea what needs to be done to get a server up and running, with some sort of content on it.

As an aside, have you got a website that you plan to host on this server? And if not, where will you get one? Can you write HTML, or another suitable markup language to create yourself a website?

Again, I'm not being critical, but without some idea what you are trying to do, you are only going to wind up frustrated, though we will try to help where we can.

red hat 9. im just so lost and want to do this and have no clue about linux. but how do i know if apache is installed. i got apache configuration. but i dont think that is apache. is it?

What happens if you do what I asked?

yes i have a one web page up right now. and i will eventually have a few others, and i just think it would be something new. im only 15 and i just would like to learn and so i aint gotta pay for a server every year.