Suggestions on new use for old computer?
I'm opening up for suggestions. I have an old and faithful homebuilt computer with an AMD 350 processor, 10 GB harddrive and 64 MB RAM. I'm not in the mood to donate it to anyone, but want to put it to use in some capacity. I'm thinking of using it as a music server, but can't decide if I want to use it for that or maybe something else. So, as a hypothetical question, what would you (singular or group) use a computer for with the following specs?
AMD K6/2 350 MHz processor 10 GB hard disk 64 MB memory 10/100 networking Sound Blaster Live! 32 MB Radeon video card CDROM (two here) Thanks!;) |
not sure
using a similar system as a firewall.
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i use3 a simaliar (slighjt less spec) system as a firewall too, using Ipcop
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Turn it into a firewall and then put all your music on it and use it for that too. :) I mean you don't really need 10 Gigs for a firewall. Exactly what kind of music server? LAMP style maybe?
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If you had a bit more storage in that machine, (and the load wouldn't be excessive), I'd suggest using it as a storage server (Samba, whatever...). Given the specs, however, I'd have to agree with the last three posts and advise using it as a firewall.
I've used IpCop before, it's quite nice. You can track ALL kinds of connection information and IpCop has a bunch of addons to extend the functionality. |
I think it'd be a waste to use such a capable computer as a mere firewall. At 350mhz, it's not quite fast enough to play videos smoothly, but it would make a slick diskless X-terminal.
I'd either turn it into a diskless X terminal or a diskless thick client. I don't know how hot K6 processors ran, but it should be possible to run the computer fanless or nearly fanless. My preference is to remove all fans except for the PSU fan--which I silence by undervolting to 5v (this involves opening up the PSU and rewiring the fan). The result is a silent diskless computer. A diskless thick client is a normal Linux workstation which just happens to boot off the network and has / mounted via nfs. The performance is actually rather good using 100mbit ethernet. Since all the applications simply run locally like any normal workstation, you don't have to do anything special to use the Soundblaster or the Radeon's 3d acceleration. However, it's going to obviously be limited by the 64megs of RAM. Needless to say, a heavy desktop environment like GNOME or KDE is out of the question. A lightweight window manager like IceWM or fluxbox will be just fine. In contrast, an X terminal is a thin client which runs the applications on the server. You can use a heavyweight desktop environment like GNOME or KDE, and the applications will run lightning fast. But using the Soundblaster and the Radeon's 3d capabilities require more effort. Personally, I'd set it up to boot up both ways--it gives me twice the stuff to play with. |
try 96 mb or something like that ...
//also depending on how indulging you are with your sabayon though ... . |
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This K6 processor never ran hotter than 118 degrees fahrenheit with a full load, no burps and Windows XP initially installed with Linux later. It's got a very good cooler on it. Apparently when I put it together, I must have gotten some good quality parts or got very lucky. Quote:
So far, a few good ideas that I had not considered. If anyone else has a good idea, please weigh in. |
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Now, I don't know if age changes this next observation, but I do remember when I first built this computer and noticed that the chip cooler was practically silent compared to the PSU fan. I will have to turn it on and do some "research." |
I'd bump it up to 256MB RAM to be safe (more is better than less). Do away with swap. I never use swap. I either run fewer programs or buy more RAM.
I don't know if you have more than one NIC, but if not, add a Gigabit NIC. Use the Gigabit NIC for the inside, and the 100MBit for the Internet. Then do the firewall and router thing. Hopefully, your ISP doesn't require you to "register" your MAC. Mine currently does (I'll be switching soon), and you have to go to a website that Lynx doesn't appear to support. But, if so I think you can just spoof the MAC. |
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then use firefox to register the mac adress. what do you do if you want to use a "black box" type hardware router/ wireless acsess point how do you register the mac adress of that? |
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1) Connect PC to router. 2) Connect router to "modem." (not really a modem, but you know what I mean) 3) Connect to the special website provided by the ISP to register the MAC. 4) Voila! However, I couldn't make that work, and I don't like to do that. I like to ensure the connection works before I daisy chain the router, switches, etc. together. So I did: 1) Connect PC to "modem." 2) Go to special website. 3) Take note of the MAC address of the NIC I used. (that's connected to the "modem"). 4) Configure router to spoof the MAC with the same as that of the PC. 5) Set things up. No conflict since the WAN is "outside" while the LAN (and original MAC) is "inside." |
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