posting ben's response - thanks!

Here's the link to server related info that I use when setting one up. One caveat, it's much larger and more documented than the last time I built a SAMBA/FTP box. C'est la vie...

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Servers

At the least, we'll need to create a server with the ability to ftp to a site (or potentially host the site), run an app to record and syndicate (probabrly in ruby), communicate with apple/windows machine through a SAMBA install (backup purposes), with suitable firewall and remote access permissions (IPTables).

Also, if we decide to go with ruby on rails or drupal, it might be a good idea to go with turnkey linux (http://www.turnkeylinux.org/) for sheer ease of setup/use.
-Ben