where to edit yum or rpm packages to update

I am setting up a new server with the goal of porting a solaris server to centos. I want to compile some packages myself (ie) http, ssl, mysql, etc. The reason for this is the downloadable rpm packages are very old. I probably want to make sure the kernel is up to date, but the individual pages I want to do myself.

I know that doing a global update would overwrite my packages, or that the update to a particular package might do that. Is there a file that lists the packages that get updated automatically, and can I edit it so that only the system files are updated (or those that I want)?

Also, where can I find the latest versions of the rpms in case I want to use them? I was looking for http and the default install is 2.0 and all I see is 2.2.3. I'm up to 2.2.8 on my solaris servers.

Thanks

I found that if you update the yum.conf then you can limit what packages get updated.

I still wondered if anyone has a site for the latest rpms. It seems most sites are way behind, which almost makes it necessary to install from source.

Thanks

man yum
there is an option to tell yum which pakages to ignore or not
and you can add that optio to /etc/yum.conf

also, use yum to download packages, dont search for them anually on the net.
and if you relly relly need to compile your own, create an rpm package
google info about rpm-build