Came across this issue a few weeks ago and never got around to posting it until today. Yes, you can avoid using the Server Assistant program and go straight to ARD to install your server. For this to work your server and remote desktop machines need to be on the same subnet. You boot the server using the 10.5 CD/DVD and note it’s serial number. Now you need to find out the IP address of the server and connect to it from your remote desktop machine. For this, you can run ARD and scan the subnet and find your new server. Once you’ve found it connect to it and login using the first eight characters of the machines serial number and leave the username blank. This even works from Windows/Linux machines using VNC which is great for those who use Windows/Linux on their desktop.