Advice on server configuration

[chuck remes]

I need some advice on building a server to run 6.0-RELEASE.

I'm unsure of what the exact usage profile for the applications will  
be so I'd like to over-engineer this first server so it can handle  
multiple tasks. It will run the following:

1. Several Ruby applications that primarily do I/O.
2. MySQL - database will have 6 tables, average of 15 fields per  
table, average of 10k rows each
3. lighttpd web server
4. Ruby on Rails web app
5. vsftpd FTP server

Each item has a different usage profile. Items 2, 3 and 4 are pretty  
tightly coupled. I project only 10 connections per second.

Items 1 and 5 will be handling the I/O. Multi-gigabyte files will be  
coming in via #5 and then will be processed and/or copied by #1.

The server will be connected to the Internet via a 50Mb pipe behind a  
firewall.

I figure as the real-life usage pattern becomes obvious I can break  
out the server into a lightweight web-head, dedicated MySQL server  
box, etc.

Anyway, here is what I am looking to build. I'm hopeful that 6.0- 
RELEASE supports all this.

1. Tyan Thunder K8S Pro S2882G3NR
    http://www.serversdirect.com/product.asp?pf_id=MBS802
2. Single Opteron 265 dual-core
    http://www.serversdirect.com/product.asp?pf_id=Opteron%5F265
3. Chenbro RM312 SATA ML (Multi Lane BP) backplane
    http://www.serversdirect.com/product.asp?pf_id=RM31212T%2DMI
4. 12 x Maxtor DiamondMax SATA 300GB
    http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100719-4
5. 3ware 9550SX 12 port Multi-lane RAID card
    http://newsite.pagecomputers.com/store/Product_accessoriesx.asp? 
catalog%5Fname=Interface+%26+IO+Adapters&category% 
5Fname=10g10c86s270&product%5Fid=881465

OR

5. Areca ARC-1130ML 12 port Multi-lane RAID card
    http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sata_raid_controllers/arc1130ml.asp
6. RAM, power supply, etc.


I've read (while lurking) good things on this list about the 3ware  
products and freebsd's driver support, but I haven't seen nearly as  
many comments about the Areca products. I have seen the Tyan  
motherboard listed as being compatible with 5.2 but no notes at all  
about 6.0. Stability is pretty important to me; I don't want to have  
to fight the server if I can avoid it.

I appreciate any and all feedback or pointers. If I should ask this  
question on a different list (or forum), let me know.

cr