I'm still a linux noob, but i would like to setup a server on an old 150mhz pentium (OC'ed to 166mhz)

I know alot of bootable linux CD's have apache built on.

i was wondering if there are any linux distro's (live or install, doesn't matter) that would make it wicked easy for me to setup a complete server solution, Apache, FTP, MySQL, Webmin, etc. and run ok on this old box.

now, i installed RedHat 9 onto this box, but X is extreamly slow, I can bearly manage to get Apache setup on a 500 Mhz box. but unfortunatly, the 500Mhz box needs a new PSU, and I haven't gotten around to ordering a new one, and if i do get it working, i'm prolly gonna just use it as a Desktop.



Thanks,

Hi.

The bad news is, no matter how small your network is, as long as you have users other than yourself, you have to plan for a steady, reliable and dependable box, be it for your home or office. The good news is there's plenty of choice with Linux.

I think you could go Debian woody (stable), mainly because it allows you to install whatever packages you need very easily, and second, because you certainly need rock solid (stable) systems when you think servers. Here are some guidelines:

1.- Install no gui in your server to avoid bloating it. Text interfaces are kind of dull, but very effective indeed. But don't misunderstand me. While there´s no need to install a gui in a server, you can administer it from another machine via your favourite Internet browser.
2.- Install as much ram as possible (though I have installed servers with as little as 16 MB ram) .
3.- Install the minimum ammount of packages. Don't install anything you don't really intend to use. Also, no bells and whistles.
4.- After installation, you may remove keyboard and mouse from your server and administer it from another machine. (you may also wish to unplug the reset switch).

Here's a microminimalist howto:
1.- Insert debian stable disk 1 and reboot your machine.
2.- At the boot prompt type bf24 [enter], otherwise it will install a dated kernel.
3.- Follow onscreen directions up to the point where it asks you if you want to restart tour machine (extract the CD while it reboots)
4.- Continue with installation.
5.- Say No when asked if you want to run tasksel or dselect (you'll do that later). Skip exim's setup.
6.- Once initial setup is complete, you´ll see the Have fun! screen. Now you're ready to configure your server.
7.- Install next programs:
etherconf - network setup(*).
sudo - grant a regular user root privileges.
vim - edit text files.
less - browse large files.
mc - work with files and directories (move, copy, etc.)
links - browse the internet in text mode (very cool!!).
samba - network services for windows clients.
swat - enable remote administration for samba.
ssh - grant secure remote access.
You may install all these packages like so:
apt-get install etherconf
apt-get install sudo
Some of these require some trimming. Pls read the man pages.

8.- Install a firewall BEFORE connecting to the internet!!!!
You can download an already tested firewall and do some trimming in order to suit your needs. To install it just copy it to /etc/init.d/ and then:
update-rc.d "your_firewall_name" defaults

9.- Install and setup server packages with "tasksel" or via apt-get (for the brave hearts there's also dselect)

On your win boxes youll need to:
1.- Configure tcp/ip for your network cards.
3.- Modify the registry to enable/disable plain text passwords.
4.- Install putty, a terminal emulator.
5.- Configure samba via your browser, just go to:
http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:901
where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is your server's address.

Use this only as guidelines but bear in mind that they are not complete (nor intended to) and that no matter the distro you choose, you'll have to read and understand what you are doing. I can mail you sample config files for a Debian server if you wish.

Hope this helps.

(*) to reconfigure your network settings, type:
dpkg-reconfigure etherconf

Debian is a good choice, and so is Slackware, for a minimal box like this, but I think you will be disappointed with Webmin on a machine of these specs.

At least it has been my experience that Webmin has enough overhead, and runs so slowly on 486 and first generation Pentiums, that I prefer to use the command line to administer everything on anything much less powerful than something like a PII 333MHz.

(On edit: I would also not overclock the thing at all if you are going to run MySQL and Apache. You're asking for trouble if you do, and you won't see any performance gain.)

well, i think i might use slackware, because a friend of mine was hosting an apache server on an old 486 laptop for the longest time. and it worked pretty good. I think debian might be an easyer install for me, but thanks for the info.