SQL can be demanding of memory.
And *hosting* websites is a different situation to *developing* them.
The operating system itself will be OK (I run a W2k8r2 DC on 1 GB of RAM)
and built in infrastructure services like DNS, DHCP, and very simple file
shares for below 10 users can probably get away with it - particularly if
running on server core but I would not go below 2GB for a box running any
other applications.
I have SharePoint Foundation 2010 running on a w2k8r2 box with 2GB and
that is slow enough to be noticeable at times.
In short - for what you said - 1GB is wasting time.
--
Pete Calvert