I can't answer all of that, but I can say that based on my own experience, that you can run this on any server. It will run on Linux and Windows machines (though I admit it is way easier on a linux server than on a windows based server).
I say that and then follow up with some here would disagree with me on that statement about which OS it would be easier on.
Static IPs that depends on your host. I run all of this on my own equipment so I don't have extensive knowledge on hosting UBB.....but many people here do use external hosting and it seems to be stable and runs fine. As for hosting options here, I will leave that question to the people who use the service.
Dunny
