To do it for free, you will have to make them Linux Servers
Many years ago I took a Linux Course to fill in the gaps in my Linux knowledge at a local community college and the final project was one that was open ended but had to be something related to Linux. I asked if I can make a Web/File Server and it was approved.
I ended up using Fedora Core 4 Linux Distro in Fall Semester 2005 as the Main OS on a Celeron 500Mhz computer with 256MB RAM. I also added dual-boot and had Windows 2000 Professional on this computer so it could be dual purpose. I ended up installing 2 hard drives and one drive had Windows 2000 Pro on it and the other drive was partitioned in a way that I had Fedora Core 4 as well as a FAT32 partition so that I could easily transfer data on this same computer between Windows and Linux.
I ended up installing Apache for my Web Server and it worked perfect and was really easy to set up, with the most complex of it being that I had to add port forwarding on my router to allow incoming traffic to get to my web server. I also assigned a static IP to this server so that the port forwarding would never break. I then registered myself a domain name and added a redirection from the provider godaddy so that anyone going to my website would be redirected to \\myipfrommyisp:8077 which my router would pass through port forwarding to the web server at 192.168.1.250 ( oh and :8077 is the port number that the server was on and allowed passthrough of )
With my web server up and a very basic web page stating that the site is under construction with a gif at the center of it, I moved on to making my FTP server.
For this I ended up going with VSFTPd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vsftpd This was trickly to set up with lack of how to info on the web at the time, but I got it working.
To connect to my file server, I once again had to add port forwarding rules to it to allow FTP to work, but also a surprise was that my ISP was blocking port 443, so I had to use a different port to FTP through that wasnt blocked and I think I ended up going with port 8078 instead which the ISP did not block.
I used Filezilla to connect to my FTP server from a Windows computer at another location on the web, and demonstrated to the class the week before that the server was at home and here is the FTP server and showed how the files were uploaded and downloaded. The following week I then had to bring in my HP Pavilion 500Mhz Celeron minitower and demonstrate how its all configured etc, and got my 100% on the project.
The cost to me in the end though wasnt free, because I had to buy a NIC for this computer since it never came with one since it was a low end Wal-Mart type computer that was made for dial-up. So I ended up getting a Netgear 10/100 NIC for $20 at Staples and installed that. This NIC showed that it supported Linux on the box so it was an easy NIC to get working with it.
Fedora has come a long ways since, but I have moved on from Fedora. I like Linux Mint these days. And as far as a good server distro there are many, but the least painful would be to go with Ubuntu Server for a real server since its widely used and lots of support. Although you can turn any normal distro into a server by installing software and configuring it like I did with Fedora.
Other than this FTP and Web Server project, I have also made a Ventrillo Voice Communication Server and UT99 server since then to host gaming on a Pentium III 850Mhz with custom game maps for death matches with others around the world that wandered into my server from a main site that you could register your server with and leave on for others to join in on. And lastly I hosted up honey pots where I took old computers, installed OS on them, and filled them with bogus info so they looked important, and placed them on the DMZ side with security holes intentionally placed to bait a hacker and then I'd pull them offline when a hacker messed with one and see what they left behind etc, reimage it and then put it back out on the DMZ to grab/fish for another hackers attention and see what they do and what tools they plant to try to steal info etc. But I stopped this because while it was fun, it was disrupting my network connection when they would perform a DoS on it etc and my wife would be upset when there was no bandwidth left for the Vonage VoIP phone to work with the honey pot getting hammered.
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If you want to go with MS Server 2008 Standard your looking at like $450+ unless you can get a copy under a Educational Discount Program such as Gradware.com ... which as been acquired by
http://www.academicsuperstore.com/category/Software/277591 When I was in college I bought all sorts of software at educational discount and saved like $1200. The only drawback was with MS Visual Studio .Net 2002 licensed for educational purposes only so you couldnt use it after the fact to compile projects and sell them. I never made anything worthy of selling anways, but I ended up having to compile projects with other compilers that were not the educational version which I posted on the web as freeware to avoid MS from knocking on my door with a project that was compiled with the educational discount copy. I ended up getting Windows XP Pro cheap too through this way back.
To get software at educational rate / student discount you have to be an active student in a credited college and the software that you are purchasing has to be related to whatever course your taking although I was able to get Studio MX and wasnt taking a course on it and I just wanted it to play with and the price tag was sweet. When I bought the heavily discounted software I had to scan my drivers license and send that to them along with my semesters transcript from the state college I was attending as proof of being an active student. Once it was approved I was golden and got my software quickly at heavy discounts for learning on.
