In most cases, expedience dictated their choice of hardware. The choice of Windows NT as a server was to simplify the process of document maintenance by people in the organization. Shareware products are easily available on the Internet, and this makes them more vulnerable to security problems. Linux, a low-cost version of Unix that runs on Intel computers, as a perfect web server. Much depends on the kind of server you want to present to the outside world, and whether you have the skills in-house to design the pages and carry out the necessary programming.
Some consultants do more than just put together the hardware and software.
A lot of the current web consultants emphasize their 'creative' aspects. Anyone who says that they can do good commercials just emphasizes that they don't yet understand the medium. While actual mileage varies tremendously, most of our experts used existing equipment to keep costs low. Our web server was done because the machine was already there. However, the real costs come when your web site becomes popular, and you need to purchase additional bandwidth to move information out of your server and over the Internet.