How to setup Application Server on home PC?

[someoneyouknow]

Is there a 3rd party program out there that will do this easily, and allow it to be accessed via the internet? I'm on the go a lot, and there are some programs I would like to be able to access from anywhere without having to install them at every workstation. The programs I'm looking to use are Windows-based, so I don't know if a *nix OS would work too well.