Question for a Green Guy

I have never had my own server before, but now i am building some severy web sites that will require 20 to 30 gigs of space. So I am going to build a server. I would like to use Linux with FreeBSD for my server becuase all my CGI scripts are currently set up this way.

My question is

1) If I install linux, can I transfer my 20 gig of website from my Computer (running Windows Me) accross my network before sending the server to the hosting company.


Do you recommend any books I should read to get to know the operating systems (and how to install).

First, Linux and FreeBSD are two separate operating systems.

Yes, you can copy your existing website through a network. In fact there are several optional methods. Either you can use Network File System (NFS) or Samba in linux to connect to your Windows network. With Samba you can share drives and printers between linux and windows clients.

Some reading on linux and administration visit:
http://www.linuxdoc.org/
and
http://www.linuxdoc.org/guides.html