Thanks everyone who has replied to my thread so far. I appreciate it. Also, ric-o, GO STEELERS! Come Feb 5th we will have that one for the thumb. As you were saying ric-o, networking, networking, networking. I do have a 4 yr. bs in IT and have Network+ certification, so I have some networking experience. I'm working on getting my Security+ certification so I can have some entry-level knowledge. I'm wondering though, if it would be a good idea to setup a Linux/Windows XP server up in my house and put it on my network so I could work with security programs. Also, what things would be good to use? I appreciate any help that you can give. Thanks.