For christmas this year I would like to give myself a server.
I would like to make a server that I can connect from a remote pc and save failes to it. I would also like to be able to set it up so my family in the states can connect to it remotely and chat with me in like a live chat kind of thing.

A couple of things
I know there is IM programs of every kind.

I want to do this so I can learn and have something that I made myself.

What do I need in terms of hardware and what would I need to burn to a disk to make a server install on it?

Thank you very much

As far as hardware goes, Linux doesn't need a lot of resources compared to Windose, so a machine that's a couple years old will still run fine. Most desktop systems should fit the bill just fine for your needs.

As far as the OS goes, you'll need to decide which distribution you want and download a bootable ISO image. All you need is a system with an internet connection (hopefully broadband), and preferably a DVD burner. A CD burner will work for most distros, but if you're going for a full install disk vs a live CD, there may be several disks to burn. DVD is definitely more convenient.

As far as which distro goes, Fedora and SUSE are pretty easy to install. I haven't used Ubuntu, but it's also relatively easy and has a good user base. You'll probably want to install and tinker around with a few builds before you put your server into 'production' mode. That will help you get the hang of things.

for a server, your hardware requirements should not be that great. I would get a couple GB of RAM and a few large HDD's and set them up as a RAID for file storage. Run CentOS as a server and would set up OpenVPN so your family can connect.

Excellent advice here. Basically, if you don't play to run a graphical environment on the server you can save quite a bit by going with a very low-cost video card (even an integrated one).

For a server, definitely implement at least some basic software RAID so a simple, single hard drive failure doesn't stop you cold.

(That's still no excuse for a good backup, though! )

CentOS is a great server OS; not only is it free, but it's based on Red Hat Enterprise, so there's plenty of documentation and howto's on getting started and configuration.

Most of all, though, have fun!