If the cable modem that the cable company is using doesn't support unix is there a way around that . Are there drivers I can get online or is there a way to configure redhat lenix (that's what I will be using) to work with the cable modem. Or is there a way to buy a third party cable modem that supports unix and if so are all the cable modem the same and will work with any cable company?
thank you for your help!!
Cable Modems themselves don't care what OS they're attached to. Just plug the Ethernet cable into the Cable Modem, and configure your system with the right network information, or set up a DHCP client on your Linux box and you should be alright.
Thank you for your reply. I'm going so fast with this (turning my computer into a linux server) that I'm making moves before I'm sure of the outcomes and this was a big one for me because I had already spent money on a cable contract and linux.
Thank you again, for your help!
No problem. Have fun. 
You might want to make sure you lockdown your server to make it a little more difficult for the roaming hackers out there to get at.