Another option is Google Apps: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html
Register a domain through GoDaddy or some other registrar (approx. 10 bucks per year), then link your domain with Google Apps. You can have 10 free email accounts, lots of web sites which can be linked to Google Docs, PicasaWeb albums, etc. You can have a web site running in just a few hours, all free. I had several web sites running on a server at home, but am now converting everything to Google Apps. No more worries about power, bandwidth, backup, etc. Did I mention it was free? Here’s an example site I set up for my wife’s sewing group, took about 2 hours to set up: http://flyingneedles.org
Some interesting advice, there, 109ACS; thanks.