> > I need the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM requirements to install and run any of the > aforementioned flavors as a "basic server". > Define "basic server" ... This varies by person and task tho the point it's meaningless without further clarification. Although you can install on the bare minimum in the documentation it's whether samba, NFS, LDAP, httpd, mysql, postgresql, etc are needed and the acceptable performance that will ultimately define the hardware requirements.