You'll probably be behind a dynamic ip, so go to dnsdynamic.org and set up your server to be "followed." (You set up a cron job to ping dnsdynamic.org periodically, and dnsdynamic.org updates its record of your ip. So you get to your server by going to myproject.dnsdynamic.com rather than myproject.com.) Set up your router so the only port(s) that is/are forwarded is/are to the port(s) you want to access (perhaps, ssh and http ports). Configure your ssh daemon to allow only private keys to log in (that is, turn off password 'logging in') and don't allow root logins.

Set up rkhunter and denyhosts.

Then, sit back and watch the logs as the attacks come in.

Some ISP will assign you a static IP if you ask. I've never been turned down.

Good tip. My biz isp sells them for $30/month. I'd get a linode first.

But with rsync, dvcs (I use hg), and even davcal (which I turned off for some reason I've now forgotten- I just use Google), life is pretty sweet.

Strange stuff. My current dirt-cheap residential connection assigned me a static address for no cost.

Static address or dynamic-but-never-changes address?

My IP almost never changes (it's been the same for at least two years), but I still can't run an SMTP server off of it, since it's listed in Spamhaus' PBL[1], so many servers refuse my mail.

[1]: http://www.spamhaus.org/pbl/

Certainly static. My hostname is .static..com.au.