Server HW & Distro question
 

Hello Everyone,

New to the board, so please bear with me. Have a question related with a server distro for very old hardware. I had seen many similar questions, but it was always related with laptops or workstation clients not headless servers. So here is my question:
My SOHO network has always had an internal DHCP & DNS Relay server using several older versions of Windows Server. Staring with Vail (2008R2) M$ Server software was getting pickier with the hardware it ran on, so have to find something less fancy that may run in either a Soekris NET4501 or another Geode based CPU (that would be great), or my old DELL Optiplex GX100 (Celeron with 128 MB RAM, might find another RAM stick if it fits in there).
So this long weekend project is fit that available HW with a Linux Distro that would work headless and may provide the following services:
- DHCP Server
- DNS (caching)
- Domain Services (WINS, you know for really old M$ stuff still around the house)
- NTP
- Syslog with web based Syslog analyzer
- Webadmin
with very little or no attention at all.

No need for fancy GUI, I think I can get along with some command line installation and configuration.
What distro would you suggest?
Tried some FreeBSD stuff, but feel more comfortable with Linux. Have a couple FreeNAS boxes running but it is HW hungry, not for older junk. I'm looking at CentOS, but 6.5 seems a bit big for what I have. For sure would not fit in any Geode stuff.

Appreciate you insights
R

There are many distros; you might benefit from Debian running CLI (without GUI) and install ISC-DHCP-Server for DHCP, BIND for DNS and perhaps an NTP package to sync with an external time source etc

This is just based on my feelings over Debian. I would invite comments from others as there are many options here.

Thanks Tombelcher,

I'm not very skilled with Debian, or Slackware that I was looking at too. Tried Ubuntu in an old laptop, same vintage as the Optiplex, but the GUI was too heavy. I was leaning towards CentOS because had some experience with RHEL6 in NET4501 a while ago, and hope it might help me to get through the hurdles.

May you share why your feelings steer your opinion towards Debian?

Was looking at ZeroShell that seems to have most of my wishlist, but what bothers me is it's mainly a router with all other stuff attached. I mean it is intended to be between the network and the cable modem, instead of an appliance in the local network. If I wanted a router, I would look at pfSense, M0n0wall or Tomato. They also have most of what I want, but they are built to be routers first and all other stuff is ancilliary.

My thought is if the distro comes with most of the wishlist built into it, then the manual work of adding the extra stuff would be easier. DHCP, DNS and DS are pretty standard in most server distros. NTP may be installed later and it doesn't need GUI. Install Webmin for remote management is very easy.
What's difficult to find is a distro with Syslog Server and Log analyzer. I like having Webmin and the Log analyzer for external use, so the server may be headless, and stored in the wiring closet.

R