Go easy on me please I'm really trying to research this stuff the best I can before I trouble people with silly questions =)

Question 1:
I am aware that with the SDK you can write custom plug-ins for network handling of multiplayer games, but do you still need the pro version in order to have the full -svr functionality?

I guess what I am asking is can the entry level 3DGS engines run as -svr and use custom plugins to handle network traffic? Or are the noob version executables limited in some way?

Question 2:
Is this server logic sound (I've been working on it for a while now):
-Player starts client.exe
-Enters Login info
-Login server authenticates info against database and if authentication=successful checks file versions for updates.
-If updates needed the client executes updater.exe and exits.
-Updater.exe listens on port xxxx and the login server passes users IP to the update server which attempts to connect to that IP at port xxxx. Once connected files are downloaded and checked and the client is relaunched as the updater exits.
-User logs in again, files should be up to date now and he is passed the available server list from the login server.
-Player sends his server choice to the login server which pulls up character info from that players database on the selected server.
-Player sends his choice of character to the login server and goes into wait mode awaiting server response. The login server then retrieves that characters table from the player database on that server, finds the current zone that the selected character is in and forwards the players IP to the actual zone server who then initiates the connection to the player and begins loading the level.

Last question I promise
Can a network programmer have mercy on me and suggest some low-latency network modules to look into? I've been through a few now and currently I'm toying with SDL_net but I havent done anything more than download it at this time.

Thank you everyone for your time and patience. I appreciate any input.

Mark