Which OS for my server?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shaun McCann
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Shaun McCann

I'm just about to build a small server for my network (the only hardware
that I now need is a case) and I was wondering which would OS I should
install.

The network will be 4-6 computers - including the server - and will be
sharing an ADSL connection.

Any suggestions as to what to go for? I'd like to keep the costs down - if
possible - and the cost of some of the software I've seen is enough to turn
your hair grey!!

Cheers,

Shaun.
 
I'm just about to build a small server for my network (the only hardware
that I now need is a case) and I was wondering which would OS I should
install.

The network will be 4-6 computers - including the server - and will be
sharing an ADSL connection.

Any suggestions as to what to go for? I'd like to keep the costs down - if
possible - and the cost of some of the software I've seen is enough to turn
your hair grey!!
Click to expand...
Linux. Cost=FREE.


--
________________________
Conor Turton
(e-mail address removed)
ICQ:31909763
________________________
 
Shaun McCann said:
I'm just about to build a small server for my network (the only hardware
that I now need is a case) and I was wondering which would OS I should
install.

The network will be 4-6 computers - including the server - and will be
sharing an ADSL connection.

Any suggestions as to what to go for? I'd like to keep the costs down - if
possible - and the cost of some of the software I've seen is enough to turn
your hair grey!!

Cheers,

Shaun.
Click to expand...


i think you may want to look into linux

slackware is one good distro
 
Windows XP Home can handle it. Windows XP Professional enables a bit more
flexibility.
Click to expand...
Can it hell. XP doesn't do traffic shaping.


--
________________________
Conor Turton
(e-mail address removed)
ICQ:31909763
________________________
 
Disagree. There's peer-peer file sharing issues with WXPH. Print server,
ICS, some services yes. Linux does a better job sharing files through samba
though a bit harder to setup, not to mention FTP, NNTP, SMTP, POP3, DNS,
DHCP, Apache servers for about $30.
 
5 to 10 computers?

Rotary Phone

| In article <XlHNa.63782$a51.22922
| @news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>, (e-mail address removed) says...
| > Windows XP Home can handle it. Windows XP Professional enables a bit
more
| > flexibility.
| >
| Can it hell. XP doesn't do traffic shaping.
|
|
| --
| ________________________
| Conor Turton
| (e-mail address removed)
| ICQ:31909763
| ________________________
 
Hi,

Yes linux is freat for this. Just installed sendmail and a pop client this
very day so I can send and receive mail without my ISP. There is a load of
free software around like apache/mysql/php so the only limit is not your
imagination (but your upload speed ;-( )

I like ms-windows xp (which I run on a 'client' pc) however the design is
more aimed to being user friendly than being a server, therefore I think you
are better of using MS Windows PC's as clients and linux PC's as server.

Regards, Ron AF Greve.
 
Right, Windows is more user friendly. Linux, is a whole 'nother thing. Fire
up that text editor and configure and 'secure' your system line by line by
line. 'Hope he really knows what he's doing!

Rotary Phone

| Hi,
|
| Yes linux is freat for this. Just installed sendmail and a pop client this
| very day so I can send and receive mail without my ISP. There is a load
of
| free software around like apache/mysql/php so the only limit is not your
| imagination (but your upload speed ;-( )
|
| I like ms-windows xp (which I run on a 'client' pc) however the design is
| more aimed to being user friendly than being a server, therefore I think
you
| are better of using MS Windows PC's as clients and linux PC's as server.
|
| Regards, Ron AF Greve.
|
|
|
| message | > I'm just about to build a small server for my network (the only hardware
| > that I now need is a case) and I was wondering which would OS I should
| > install.
| >
| > The network will be 4-6 computers - including the server - and will be
| > sharing an ADSL connection.
| >
| > Any suggestions as to what to go for? I'd like to keep the costs down -
if
| > possible - and the cost of some of the software I've seen is enough to
| turn
| > your hair grey!!
| >
| > Cheers,
| >
| > Shaun.
| >
| >
|
|
 
Rotary Phone said:
Right, Windows is more user friendly. Linux, is a whole 'nother thing. Fire
up that text editor and configure and 'secure' your system line by line by
line. 'Hope he really knows what he's doing!

Rotary Phone
Click to expand...


I must agree. I am nowhere near the level of skill it takes to tweak linux,
free or not. Line by line is fun and educational but I need that damn
GUI.... and none of my progs will work with linux. So yes it depends on how
much time you have, and where your aggravation threshold is.
 
Yes linux is freat for this. Just installed sendmail and a pop client this
very day so I can send and receive mail without my ISP. There is a load of
free software around like apache/mysql/php so the only limit is not your
imagination (but your upload speed ;-( )

I like ms-windows xp (which I run on a 'client' pc) however the design is
more aimed to being user friendly than being a server, therefore I think you
are better of using MS Windows PC's as clients and linux PC's as server.
Click to expand...

I never even thought of Linux would you believe. I might be stating the
obvious here but when I have everything up and running I want to be able to
use my server to connect to the internet with all the client computers
connecting through it and for the server to be able to route mail to each
client's mail account. Is that the sort of thing that I could be doing if I
have a Linux server with client computers running Windows? (For what it's
worth the current client computers I have are 2 running Windows XP and 1
running ME).

What abour running a Linux server with an ADSL connection? Are there
modems/routers that I should be wary of if I go the Linux route?

Anyway, cheers for the suggestions so far one and all. It's certainly given
me something to consider when setting my server up.............

Shaun.
 
Hi,

That's the way I configured my linux server actually (moonlit.xs4all.nl).

I have an alcatel speedtouch router and set it so it would forward all
traffic to my linux server. The linux server is my
mail-server/firewall/router/dns-server. It hides the boxes behind by
masqerading their IP address. So in my internal network I have for instance
a XP machine with address 192.168.1.55. When it makes connection to the
outside world the linux server monitors the connection and changes the
192.168.1.55 to its own outgoing address (i.e. the interface that is
connected to the alcatel modem). On any packets that is receives it changes
the address back.

Any PC (OS independent, it might not even be a PC) can have a connection at
the same time.

Ok there some problems with protocols like netmeeting (these negotiate about
ports (H323) which make it difficult for the firewall to know to which PC it
should route any resulting incoming connection) . At some time I had it
working though because there are some proxies for it, unfortunately after a
kernel upgrade it stopped. Of course people are working on this (and maybe
there is already something working out there).

Documenation: look for the linux IP_MASQERADING howto and ipchains or
iptables.


Regards, Ron AF Greve
 
I never even thought of Linux would you believe. I might be stating the
obvious here but when I have everything up and running I want to be able to
use my server to connect to the internet with all the client computers
connecting through it and for the server to be able to route mail to each
client's mail account. Is that the sort of thing that I could be doing if I
have a Linux server with client computers running Windows? (For what it's
worth the current client computers I have are 2 running Windows XP and 1
running ME).
Click to expand...


Using a server box just for routing Internet traffic is certainly more
work that it needs be. A hardware router works much better and best of
all, maintenance-free. Now if you want to run a local mail server,
that's another thing.




-bobb
 
-
bobb stood up, at show-n-tell, and said:

Yes, it would just be acting as a gateway. The OS would be irrelevant.
All file system translations are irrelevant, over a LAN/WAN. Except, of
course, for MAC which would have to use an alternate protocol Unless
there's a TCP/IP equivelent out, now for MACs? (it's been a while) But, I
think MACs can do NETBUI...
Using a server box just for routing Internet traffic is certainly more
work that it needs be. A hardware router works much better and best of
all, maintenance-free. Now if you want to run a local mail server,
that's another thing.
Click to expand...

True. The only real reason I think a person would want to run a server
would be for file and/or mail server functionality (and, obviously,
firewall functionality). If those needs are not there (file/mail server),
a Linksys or Netgear or Sonicwall would be ideal.
 
Shaun said:
I'm just about to build a small server for my network (the only hardware
that I now need is a case) and I was wondering which would OS I should
install.

The network will be 4-6 computers - including the server - and will be
sharing an ADSL connection.

Any suggestions as to what to go for? I'd like to keep the costs down - if
possible - and the cost of some of the software I've seen is enough to turn
your hair grey!!
Click to expand...

Linux: low (no) cost. Can run in non-GUI mode so you're not wasting
loads of resources on windows you're not using. Has *loads* of services
available free like sendmail, disk sharing, newsgroup software, CVS, etc.
 
Shaun said:
I never even thought of Linux would you believe. I might be stating the
obvious here but when I have everything up and running I want to be able to
use my server to connect to the internet with all the client computers
connecting through it and for the server to be able to route mail to each
client's mail account. Is that the sort of thing that I could be doing if I
have a Linux server with client computers running Windows? (For what it's
worth the current client computers I have are 2 running Windows XP and 1
running ME).

What abour running a Linux server with an ADSL connection? Are there
modems/routers that I should be wary of if I go the Linux route?

Anyway, cheers for the suggestions so far one and all. It's certainly given
me something to consider when setting my server up.............
Click to expand...

Yes, Linux can do all this. There's no contest really for servers -
Linux beats Windows hands down. The only problem is learning Linux.
However, if you can find a Linux User Group in your area you can
probably get a local geek to come round and help in exchange for coffee.
 
Using a server box just for routing Internet traffic is certainly more
work that it needs be. A hardware router works much better and best of
all, maintenance-free. Now if you want to run a local mail server,
that's another thing.
Click to expand...

I don't need to run a server but I want to just, for want of a better way to
put it, for the hell of it. I've just signed up for my broadband account and
part of the sign-up deal is to get a broadband router so I don't need a
server but I'd like to build one as it's something I've not done before.

Shaun.
 
Linux: low (no) cost. Can run in non-GUI mode so you're not wasting
loads of resources on windows you're not using. Has *loads* of services
available free like sendmail, disk sharing, newsgroup software, CVS, etc.
Click to expand...

Cheers,

Looks like it might be a bit of a challenge to get a Linux server up and
running but that's one of the reasons I want to build a server.......

Shaun.
 
Shaun said:
I'm just about to build a small server for my network (the only hardware
that I now need is a case) and I was wondering which would OS I should
install.

The network will be 4-6 computers - including the server - and will be
sharing an ADSL connection.

Any suggestions as to what to go for? I'd like to keep the costs down - if
possible - and the cost of some of the software I've seen is enough to
turn your hair grey!!
Click to expand...

Simple, linux. Mandrake is probably the easiest for newbies, I like 8.2
unless you have bleeding edge hardware.
 
nope said:
I must agree. I am nowhere near the level of skill it takes to tweak
linux,
free or not. Line by line is fun and educational but I need that damn
GUI.... and none of my progs will work with linux. So yes it depends on
how much time you have, and where your aggravation threshold is.
Click to expand...


???? When was the last time (if ever) that you used linux? Most of this
stuff can be done with a GUI now. If it can't, the system comes with all
the docs and howto's instead of buying $$$$ books to figure out how to try
to get MS to work.

As far as agggravation level, have you ever tried to keep a MS server
secure and up?
 
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