Hi,

While my system at home is not "production" network...

> 1. Is it possible to run NetBSD/i386 from a CF like storage device(maybe more 
> a question of bios)?

Yes, I have tried a CF to IDE convertor. ie... CF presented as
an IDE harddisk to the system.

> 2. Is it possible to run it without graphics card? Is this possible at all on 
> x86 hardware (hmm, might depend on bios and hardware I guess too)

Yes, my system has an onboard graphics that is not used. But
always "console" via serial port. My bios doesn't display
on serial, however.

> 2. What about things like swap partitions. There will be enough ram in that 
> machine for the task it will do. But does NetBSD prefer a  small swap space 
> thow to do some VM tasks?

Potentially yes.

> 3. Has anyone run a production http server on Java & Java HTTP Server like 
> Tomcat reliable, fast(means comparable fast to other unix-like OS) through 
> linux emulation layer (I mean a server that really is under pressure of 
> course)

Haven't tried that.

> 4. Has anybody any other thoughts that comes to mind when reading this?
> 5. Am I insane just to consider NetBSD?

Nope. you are not insane. Just to answer your question 5. ;)
I think netbsd is ideal for such application. I see two advantages...
1) Licensing... BSD license is more flexible
2) Architecture. When processors like PowerPC and MIPS getting
faster and lower power than that of Intel, you will have more options
in future.