Setting up a server

[DeathONator]

Ok, I have enough spare parts from my last progressive upgrade that once I buy a case I'll be ready to go. Here are the specs:

MSI K7T266 Mobo
Athlon Tbird 1.4ghz
256MB or 512MB PC 2100
40GB 7200RPM ATA100

Now it's definately not going to be a quick server at all, due to my satalite internet (modem used for uploading), and specs. But I just want to make one that at least works, so I can learn me some stuff. What are the most important pieces of hardware in a server (for performance).

What would the specs of a decent server look like.
What distro of linux should I use?
Will running FAH cause me any problems?

I'll have to do some reading up on it, but just want to know if it's worth the trouble w/ these system specs.

 

[coin]

it's almost impossible to say what a set of good specs are as it depends on what you run and for how many connecting PCs/users.
I would have thought that what you have listed will easily be enough for your need. As to which Linux distro my top three recommendation s would be
Red Hat9
Debian
Lindows

RedHat9 is very flexible and a bit more user friendly the Debian but Debian is more powerful. Lindows is nice but really only for the workstation market. RH and Debain are both available as free downloads so install and try, see which one suits you the best.
FAH shouldn't be a problem at all

 

[CrashOveride]

RedHat is gonna have support stopped soon though... So I wouldn't use it now.

 

[coin]

eeek didn't know that, may have to change over

 

[David]

SuSE is my fav distro ATM, but ANY Linux box can easily be set up as a server.

What kind of server are you setting up? For a file server you really just need a good amount of storage. For a proxy/cache/firewall box you dont really need much in the way of specs at all.

 

[moorcito]

RedHat is gonna have support stopped soon though... So I wouldn't use it now.

I wouldn't worry about that too much, since you won't need support anyway. RPM is still the standard package manager, so no matter what happens you will still be able to upgrade the software over time.

If you know anything about Linux, I'd recommend Slackware, Debian, or Gentoo. If you are a Linux noob, I'd recommend RedHat, SuSE, or Mandrake.

Either way, any distro you use will have almost all the same server tools (software), so there really isn't that much difference between them.

 

[bdf24]

I use ClarkConnect for mine. I'm running as a gateway, firewall, fileserver, proxy server, and print server.
My system specs are:
Celeron 333mhz
64mb's PC100
60 Gig IBM drive

That's about it. Runs fine for me. ClarkConnect does have Apache as well so you can run a webserver if that's what your looking into. But there's no GUI with ClarkConnect. It is based on Redhat. You can adjust everything thru a webconfig page. Similiar to that of a stand alone router.

Works for me. I know most don't agree with running all this on a gateway/firewall PC. But I believe for a home user it's fine.

 

[DeathONator]

I think for starters I'm just going to serve my files, and maybe set up a dedicated server just for my LAN at home, for JKII, HALO, and stuff.

I already have ran and downloaded Mandrake. But would kinda like to try something... "better"? I didn't get a whole lot into mandrake though...

 

[bdf24]

If you don't care about having a GUI based OS. Try something made for this specific purpose. The ClarkConnect setup I got only took about 20 minutes to setup. For a gateway, firewall, and fileserver setup it's perfect IMO. After it's all setup you don't need a monitor, keyboard, or mouse hooked up. Just tuck it away somewhere and forget about it.
Mines been going for well over a month now with no troubles.

It is nice having a central file server to store all your files on to always have access to. I love the fact that I don't have to even have my main PC on to access files and updates while building or working on computers. It's so much easier.

Another option that most seem to like around here is SmoothWall Linux. I've never used it. But as long as it's got Samba on it you can use it as a file server as well. And if it does'nt you can always add it in yourself.

 

[coin]

Smoothwall doesn't come with Samba installed, it's designed purely as a firewall so ClarkConnect might be a better choice for you. Most Linux distros allow you to install without the GUI version as well.

 

[injinj]

Any kind of complex server software is going to specify RedHat or SuSE version X.Y as a reference point. The reason for this is that only the major release versions of linux are thoroughly tested on high performance platforms, even though most of the software will work fine for common hardware.

 

[camfortner]

Your Specs are definately good enough for a router/fileserver/firewall type box.

As long as you're not planning to host webpages off of your 56k modem satellite return it should work just fine.

(Btw, you can't get bi-directional satellite internet where you live?)

 

[DeathONator]

We can but the price difference isn't worth it IMO... for what I'm using it for anyways.