Hello All:

I am awaiting the arrival of a Dell SC series server and since I have decided to use it to web enable a postgreSQL database, I was wondering if anyone on this great forum can give a newbie help with installing centOS onto the machine.

Keep in mind this is just a simple student (non- work related) exercise in working with open source technology in preparation for an internship. The details of the system are (given Dell's blow out sale right now) I am looking at purchasing either a Dell SC 420 or a 1420. Whichever I choose will have a Pentium IV 2.8 chip with a 160GB SATA hard drive with 1GB DDR RAM. No Operating system installed from Dell. (Should be more than powerful enough for a student's side project over the summer).

Since I will choose no operating system from Dell (and Red Hat Linux configuration) I was wondering how I go about installing centOS (free clone of RHEL) and whether I will need to partition the hard drive? If I need to partition it, what software would be good for a noobie to learn from? And finally, will I have any issues with centOS and the SATA hard drive? I keep hearing from various sources that the software SATA (available on the lower level Dell servers) is not yet supported by Linux and that you have to work around it upon installation. If so, what will I need to do to deal with this?

Thank you all for your help and support for newbies like myself. If I am wrong on any of these statements or have been misinformed, please feel free to set me straight. Without all of you I would still be floundering.

Thanks,

Steve

There's really nothing to say... just stick the CD in and go. anything you've asked about will be covered in the install process. Sata is apparently fine in the newer 2.6 kernels that redhat roll out (and therefore centos).

those servers are junk btw... they litter where i work, and they're always failing...

acid_kewpie:

For future reference, what would you recommend as a simple, dependable, and stable server? What brand, specs, and price range?

Thanks,

Steve