Windows Desktop OS has the huge downside of forced updates these days. And they will just reboot, no matter if you want or not.
Server version is fine, you often even get it for free when you are a student for lab purposes, but it has way more overhead than Linux. 8GB is bare minimum for a Windows server, probably even more these days. If you run some services or even exchange / sql server, you need way more. A minimal Ubuntu runs fine on 512MB and Ubuntu is already quite high in memory usage compared to others. You can get away with even less of a footprint.
Look up the quickspecs for the thing, that will tell you which modules are compatible. Check ebay or homelabsales for it.
I have 8x 1GB DDR3-UDIMM ECC Modules laying around from upgrading my Dell R210 II, I would give you those for free when you pay shipping, but you're probably in the US and I'm in europe, so it's probably too expensive to ship.