discuss: Thread: HOWTO about small&silent servers

At 00:23 5/7/2004, Machtelt Garrels wrote:
>What I would appreciate in such a HOWTO is which distro to choose, as the
>standard ones will be overkill and maybe to heavy to run on old PCs.

As one good suggestion, I suggest you look at RULE:

http://www.rule-project.org


-- 
Rodolfo J. Paiz
####@####.####
http://www.simpaticus.com

On Fri, May 07, 2004 at 12:52:04AM +0200, Christian Schnobrich wrote:
> Not at all -- wrong topic. The point is that for most services and the
> little number of users involved, a 486 could do it with one hand tied to
> it's back. The fact that someone threw an Athlon at the task was what
> gave me the idea that an HOWTO might be in order.

Aha! Now I understand. Thanks for the clarification. :) It almost seems
like it would be a Home Office Network HOWTO...I think this
document will be a wonderful complement to the Home Office HOWTO that was
proposed a couple of weeks ago (which will focus on software for small
businesses, printer config, etc). As Tille mentioned in another email, 
be sure to avoid duplication with other documents already in the collection.

Let me know when you have a full outline of what you'd like to work on and 
I can help get you set up with the CVS if you'd like.

emma

-- 
Emma Jane Hogbin
[[ 416 417 2868 ][ www.xtrinsic.com ]]

At 16:22 5/7/2004, Emma Jane Hogbin wrote:
>On Fri, May 07, 2004 at 12:52:04AM +0200, Christian Schnobrich wrote:
> > Not at all -- wrong topic. The point is that for most services and the
> > little number of users involved, a 486 could do it with one hand tied to
> > it's back. The fact that someone threw an Athlon at the task was what
> > gave me the idea that an HOWTO might be in order.
>
>Aha! Now I understand. Thanks for the clarification. :) It almost seems
>like it would be a Home Office Network HOWTO...

I would hazard a guess that Christian wants a more focused scope than 
that... his subject line of "small and silent servers" still rings true 
with every one of his comments. A "Home Office Network HOWTO" involves more 
material and a wider scope. (The fact that I am working on just such a 
document should be considered irrelevant at the moment.) Christian's work 
seems to be extremely useful, too... I'd love to quiet down some of the 
stuff I use, both new and old.

Cheers,


-- 
Rodolfo J. Paiz
####@####.####
http://www.simpaticus.com

At 06:15 5/7/2004, Christian Schnobrich wrote:
>On Fri, 2004-05-07 at 08:23, Machtelt Garrels wrote:
>
> > What I would appreciate in such a HOWTO is which distro to choose, as the
> > standard ones will be overkill and maybe to heavy to run on old PCs.
>
>Generally, I don't like it at all when HOWTOs are specific for a certain
>distribution, or someone tries to explain why a certain distro is better
>than others. [...]
>
>I'm using Debian [...] there has to be a way to get it done using any
>other distro -- I'd rather have a few hints on how to bypass the
>official setup tools than declare certain distros unsuitable for the
>task. But being a Debian-only user, I have no clue whatsoever. Could you
>provide a few lines on the subject?

Speaking as a RedHat-only user (well, Fedora now too), I have not had any 
problem using Red Hat Linux and Fedora Core with any machine down to a P/75 
with 32MB of RAM. Everything and anything that a small server needs can be 
installed, configured, and used without installing X or any unneeded 
services/tools/packages/whatever. For machines down to a 486/25 with 8MB of 
RAM, I have successfully and happily used RULE (see my other recent post).

Debian and Red Hat will both run somehow on nearly all machines still in 
working order today. Those two are a significant chunk of the market; now 
all that remains is to make a similar evaluation for the two or three other 
distros (Suse, Mandrake?) that matter.

Cheers,


-- 
Rodolfo J. Paiz
####@####.####
http://www.simpaticus.com

Christian Schnobrich wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> recently I exchanged a few mails with someone who used an Athlon 1800
> for his Internet gateway and wondered how to make it less noisy... in
> the process, I spilled out lots of text and wonder if I should turn it
> into a HOWTO.


That is more or less how I came to write my HOWTO.

> I guess the starting point for most people is to share an Internet
> connection for several boxes. Whether they start with fli4l or skip it
> right away: once there is a box running 24/7, there's a certain
> temptation to add more services.


Some notes on security is definitely in place as temptations increase.

> The document will cover three main aspects:
> a) how much CPU power / RAM / disk space will be necessary to run a
> certain service (in other words: will my old box suffice)


Some perusing of existing HOWTOs gave me a surprise: the HP HOWTO
includes a section called "Solutions and Sizing", a topic I feel
warrants a far wider exposure than a section within a HOWTO that
does not indicate the gems hidden.

I feel solution and sizing should be a separate HOWTO. Comments?

> b) an overview of old hardware and possible issues
> c) how to make it more silent, mostly centered on keeping the harddisk
> powered down and a few other tricks of the trade
> 
> Well, now... does anyone think there is demand for such a HOWTO?


Judging by the recent interest in silent computers I would say yes.

Regards,
    Stein Gjoen