i was thinking of getting a pc to act as a server (for lan (data storage) and to host a site). What would the recommended specs be? I was browsing though monitor and found a cheap refurbished pc. (1 ghz p3, 256ram, 20gb, win2k for $99 cad) Is this ok (other than hd) or i need better?

btw, what os is best for this?

(also found 1.8ghz, 256ram, 20gigs and xp for $199)

I think Windows Server 2003
the storage would depend on what you wanna store but 20 gigs for lan and host a site are fine
maybe more ram

as i said, "other than hd". I'd get an external 200gig drive...

External for a file server? I suggest you think again, although I've been wrong before. Personally for a web server I'd be using Linux, no question about it (I have experience with Gentoo & Ubuntu). For a file server you can still use Linux to get an ultra stable server (and virus free too) by using samba, but in my experiences samba can be a little bit tricky. I'd still put samba ahead of windows because windows costs money, requires an anti virus which costs money, and wont be as stable in terms of uptime.

i only wanted external because i'd keep my music on it, and if i ever take my laptop somewhere, i'd like my music with me. But it doesnt really matter since soon i'll get a zune and i can put all music there. And internal would also probably be cheaper. I'll think about linux.

Hardware is fine, you really don't need much for a LAN fileserver. I would add a nice PCI networkcard in it (if there isn't one already) if I could, they usually preform better than build-in ones.

For OS, Windows 2003 if you can get it without spending too much money on it, or a nice linux distro with Samba.

I'd go for the 1.8 GHz one, but it is twice the cost. The extra processing power can be put to use doing stuff like file verification/(de)compression/video compression (but that will take ages on only 1.8 GHZ, though it won't bother you on the server).

The 1.8 GHz server overall should respond better as well, but for better performance you'd want a new motherboard with good integrated or separate network adapter, though this will cost much more, and probably can't be justified for your needs.