shell hosting

I'm planning to make a little shell hosting server.

What do I need? I mean all the things there are. (ips, vhosts,what os,security?)

Thanks.

First off, you need a spare box. If you're giving away shell accts., you don't want them on your desktop.

Secondly, you need to install a stripped down distro (put only what you need on it) and secure it. Make sure no daemons are running that don't need to be running. Make sure all programs are patched and up to date. Edit all your config files to your liking and the most secure settings.

Then, you'll need to create the users for the accts. That's about it (in a nutshell).

Thanks!

Buf if I want many different vhosts. Do I need many ip's for that ?

Not at all - you only need one IP regardlessly of how many vhosts you have. The vhost to use for a certain request is defined from the server name that the client uses.

But if people want to use irc (eggdrop) then usually server limit is 3-5 users per ip not vhost. Correct me if im wrong. So in that case I need multiple ip's. ?

Admittedly, I don't know very much about how the IRC protocol works, but I see no reason why an IRC server would need multiple IPs.