Installing Linux on old Dell Server running NT Server 4.0

avarma · 08-04-2008, 11:31 AM

I have a Dell Poweredge 1400 Server running Windows NT Server 4.0 - with 256 MB of RAM. One of its drawbacks is that it lacks wireless capability due to NT Server 4.0.
What flavor of Linux would be a good choice for a dual boot?
I am reluctant to upgrade to Windows Server 2003 for cost reasons.

Thanks

farslayer · 08-04-2008, 12:58 PM

For a server that old I would think just about any Linux Distro should work.

The one thing you would want to look at is the Storage Controller in the server.
http://linux.dell.com/storage.shtml

looks like it would be either a PERC2 or PERC3 controller
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...c/en/index.htm

Quote:

kernel.org distributed kernels
LSI engineers maintain the megaraid_mbox driver in kernel 2.6.x. This supports Dell PERC 3 and PERC 4 series cards.
Older PERC 2 and earlier cards can be made to work with the megaraid_legacy (name as of 2.6.16, formerly 'megaraid')

tronayne · 08-04-2008, 01:01 PM

Pretty much any distribution you want -- but, you really (really) need to think about sticking another 256M (at least) memory in it. Slackware may meet your needs (it doesn't automagically start an X service by default) and gives you a complete installation without downloading a bunch of extra stuff after installation.