questions before i begin as a LAN only server admin

[secondattack]

I'm getting ready to setup a server for my lan to do some testing exploring zones mobs and other things before doing them on live. i have a few questions however..

do the location grinds of emu server zones match those of live servers?

can i a run the world bare, meaning no spawns of any kind, simply empty zones? or maybe an option to run around with a no argo.

can i use the minilogin over my lan, including clients connecting via services like hamachi, or other vpn type networking.

lastly, the system i intend to use as my server is a 6 core 3.4gig amd with 16 gigs of 2400 ddr3 and an nivida 550 ti, can't recall the specs on my hdd, but there aren't super impressive its not an IDE drive but it is an early SATA. should this system be able to handle a handful of actively running zones and a player client at the same time? or should i host the server on a box of its own?

thanks in advance gents!