I am interested in Gentoo as a server OS, but I have not been able to
find much on exactly what the status is. Is there a recommended set of
packages? Does it actually have an installer? I also have some
suggestions for such an OS, based on my experience with Gentoo:

First, I would suggest that the emerge function be broken down into two
parts- a downloader/compiler and an installer- that way, a server can
compile the software that will be needed during its hours of service,
then can install the software during specific hours (a service window or
something). I would envision this as working similar to how etc-update
works, where it proides a queue of ready-to-install binaries, which can
be installed on a per-package basis. In a perfect world, any green,
yellow, or red-starred information would be browseable before installing
the package. Unfortunately, such a change would either require a new set
of arch'es or a parallel version of portage for the server version...
Any thoughts?