Virtual Server to run a file server and XBMC

Hello All,

I am looking to create a central virtual server that will be left on indefinitely. As of right now, i wish to run two virtual machines. One will be a file server with torrent and downloading functionality. Second, will be a media center (XMBC). Further expansions will have additional media centers for the various TV's around the house.


For the system build itself, what are the hardware features that are needed to optimize this biuld and what software is my best option.

How about the computers that will display and be used to interact with the virtual XBMC machines?

Any help would be much appreciated, I have spent many hours reading online and I have realized how much information goes into this project and would love to get some direction to focus my energy where it will be most beneficial.

Thank you,
Terry

edit: Had to remove HTML tags