Would This Be A Sound Move?

[nujinini]

Hi Everyone!

I was thinking.....Maybe in order to step up my game a little, I should start to tinker around with a server.

I heard from a friend that even those old and not too fast computers can make pretty good servers.
So here is what I have in mind...

To invest on a second hand PC, maybe a Pentium I or II to act as my "server". Here it sells for around 50.00 to 70.00 USD.

I read that there are many kinds of servers and honestly, I don't know which particular area should I try to start with. A friend mentioned that a safe start would be to set-up a "data storage server". (I forgot his exact technical words)

We have 2 laptops and a PC at home. Like....would it be a good start if I learn how to network all our machines at home with the server to store data? And perhaps even when out of the house, access data from our server at home when online?

I may already have my hands full for the next six months (or year) with this undertaking.

May I ask your thoughts on these please? Thanks you!

[GNU-Fan]

Whatever you do, don't forget to have an eye on the power consumption. Quite a few people put an old computer in the basement running 24/7, only to find out that the power bill is larger than what they would have paid had they rented a server in a data center.

That said, I did my first steps in server administration by installing a minimum system with a running SSH server and putting the computer in another room, only talking over Ethernet with it from then on. Alternatively, you may also simulate the server by running it in a virtual machine. Its not really a difference.

[nujinini]

That said, I did my first steps in server administration by installing a minimum system with a running SSH server and putting the computer in another room, only talking over Ethernet with it from then on. Alternatively, you may also simulate the server by running it in a virtual machine. Its not really a difference.

Thanks GNU-Fan

Things that got me interested particularly are the following:

1) Installing a minimum system with a running SSH.
2) Putting the computer in another room
3) Talking over Ethernet with it.
4) Simulate server by running it in a virtual machine.

Sounds very practical.

EDIT: By the way, electric bills got me thinking twice also.

[ryokimball]

Where would you be buying these old computers from?
Check Craig's List, yard sales, and even door-to-door asking around at some local businesses. I find computers for $10 and sometimes free, the oldest having a PII 400 MHz.

[Rubberman]

Given the low cost of low power-consuming systems these days, it really doesn't pay to just recycle old hardware. For example, for $269 from Dell you can get an Inspirion 560 small desktop system w/ 2GB RAM, 320GB sata hd, 2.2GHz Celeron processor, 16x DVD+RW, and gigabit ethernet. That is just fine for a small Linux server that will be more reliable and cheaper to run than old systems.

[nujinini]

Where would you be buying these old computers from?

There are a quite a lot of surplus shops here where I live. If ever, I think I would be asking around first from some friends if they might have an old computer somewhere.

[nujinini]

Given the low cost of low power-consuming systems these days, it really doesn't pay to just recycle old hardware. For example, for $269 from Dell you can get an Inspirion 560 small desktop system w/ 2GB RAM, 320GB sata hd, 2.2GHz Celeron processor, 16x DVD+RW, and gigabit ethernet. That is just fine for a small Linux server that will be more reliable and cheaper to run than old systems.

Hello Rubbernan,

Thank you for your unselfish efforts in helping.

Anyway, I already have an existing PC here at home and I was wondering, can I just use it as my "server"?

For the sake of order, I will post my specs at the Servers Forum.

Again, sincere thanks, Sir!

[Rubberman]

Hello Rubbernan,

Thank you for your unselfish efforts in helping.

Anyway, I already have an existing PC here at home and I was wondering, can I just use it as my "server"?

For the sake of order, I will post my specs at the Servers Forum.

Again, sincere thanks, Sir!

Well, a lot of folks do what you are thinking about. I have an old P2-450 Dell that I have considered for that - 450MHz PII processor, 384MB RAM, 120GB or so of disc, and such. It would make a decent email/ftp/file server if it wasn't for the fact that my current, more recent workstation can better that with a fraction of its ability. So, I don't bother except when I need to run some old legacy code on it. However, if I didn't have as much horsepower in my current workstation/server (8 3GHz cores, 8GB RAM, 10TB disc, dual gigabit ethernet ports), I would definitely give using the old system serious consideration before purchasing new hardware.

[nujinini]

- 450MHz PII processor, 384MB RAM, 120GB or so of disc, and such. It would make a decent email/ftp/file server... I would definitely give using the old system serious consideration before purchasing new hardware.

I guess my present system can be a good start for me then.

However, if I didn't have as much horsepower in my current workstation/server (8 3GHz cores, 8GB RAM, 10TB disc, dual gigabit ethernet ports),

WoW! That is one huge system! I can't even imagine what you can do with so much muscle power.

[Rubberman]

Well, I am a professional software engineering consultant. I design and develop software for everything from embedded real-time devices to large-scale enterprise manufacturing systems. When I built this system a bit over 2 years ago, it was as state-of-the-art as you could get. Naturally, it is dated already! However, it will have the horse power I need for some time to come, with the possible exception of adding some more RAM. Since I typically run 1 or more virtual machines (Solaris, Windows, and ARM emulator) as well as an Oracle database and other applications on the system at any time , memory is my main constraint right now. Of course, I wouldn't mind if I had a couple of the new generation i7 processors - 6 cores each insted of 4, and much higher memory bandwidth... Oh well, can't afford it at this time. I invested about $5000 USD in the system originally, and a new one with up-to-date processors and double the memory would cost about the same, which right now is about $5000 I don't have! In another 2-3 years I will have extracted my investment in the system and can think about updating it. Interesting to think that I have a personal workstation under my desk that is more powerful and faster than a $10M supercomputer of a few years ago... and only consumes the power of a few (incadescent) light bulbs!