sourcing the new install

[fairfax@pclink.com]

I am about to buy a 6GB HDD to supplement the two full 1.6GB HDDs I have, and
then I plan to load slink on my system.  I have usually bought the CDs, but
the resellers I have seen on the net don't seem to include the non-free or 
non-US, and besides, loading a portion of the total package (even if only the
non-free) takes up valuable archive space on my system.

So, I am thinking about mirroring slink onto my system from ftp.debian.org, but
I was wondering (a) how much drive space I can plan on devoting to the mirror,
(b) how much drive space I can plan on leaving open for future additions, and 
(c) how much trouble it is to install a mirror and keep it up to date.

(That is the other reason I was thinking of just mirroring this stuff -- I can
always count on my distribution being up to date that way.)  Is there any
provision for automatically installing upgraded packages, or of informing me
of which packages have been upgraded?

Steven C. Martin