Creating my own server?

[Tharic]

Hi.

(My apologies in advance for the length of this post)

I am relatively new to the EQEmu scene. I have looked into EQEmu a few times in the past, but felt it was a bit over my head at the time... But now, with what looks to be some great tutorials, It looks to be quite possible.

So... lets start with some basics. Currently, I have 2 EQ folders. One that connects to live (which I can easily convert to 0.6.2DR0) and one that i did not patch which I have tested to connect to 0.6.1DR1.

As much as I would like to use the newest version (0.6.2DR0), compiling it myself isn't really an option. Also, from what I read in the forums, it doesn't appear to be very stable as of yet. I have a feeling that its going to be some time before its up and running.

Which leaves me to consider 0.6.1DR1.
I am thinking that this is the best way to go for me. I realize that getting people to connect to this version will be an issue, but lets not worry about that for now. Right now, I am more interested in what I can do for the moment. At the very least, It will give me some experience for when 0.6.2DR1 is released.

On to the questions!

1) If my client can connect to 0.6.1DR1, can it also connect to 0.6.1DR2 (or higher)? just curious if its possible as I couldn't find any 0.6.1DR2 servers to try connect to...

2) Is DR2 less buggy than DR1? (I would assume so...) which is why I am curious if I could connect to DR2. because I would then run that instead. (or which ever is the most recent release)

However, in the case that I can't connect to those servers, and 0.6.1DR1 is my only option:

3) How stable is 0.6.1DR1? Is there a bug list availabIe that I can view for this release? As I would likely make my server for friends and such, I wouldn't expect anyone to exploit it, but I am curious as to what issues might arise.

From what i understand, the hardware of the server determines how many zones I can have loaded at any given time. Based on this assumption, which could be wrong:

4) How many zones could I support on a stand-alone server with hardware of Athlon XP 1800 and 512mb ram? I would consider upping the ram to 1gig if it made enough of a difference. (1gig is the maximum my mainboard can take)

5) Internet connection... What do most people use? Right now, I am on a 3mbit modem. I can upgrade to 5mbit at a relatively low cost. How many people could my connection support at 3? (and at 5?)

That will do for now. I have more questions regarding content which I will save for later. right now, the goal is to get a server up and running!

Thank you for your time and patience.

Tharic