Setting up a Server with linux

[muzzammil]

Hello Sir, I am going to implement a small network. Sir I want to install linux in my server. I just want two things from the server
The users will just use print server and internet
First and most important thing is that I want that all the users on the network should get equal speed nobody gets more. The server should divide the bandwith equally on users
The other thing is that a dhcp server should be made in server and then each mac adress should be bound to its ip.
Are these possible with windows server? if it is possible then please help how?
I have a server machine and i also have a seprate machine for load balancing with 4 lan cards as i am getting vdsl lines from my isp
Sir which os i should use which can fulfil my needs?

[ramin.honary]

I think Endian Linux is quite nice, when it comes to Linux router software.

Another option is, you can use a popular Linux flavor, like Ubuntu Server, but you must install install and configure the software yourself:

• Samba3 -- Windows file sharing and printer sharing
• dhcp3-server -- DHCP server
• Squid -- HTTP proxy with bandwith control (called "throttling")
• kernel-patch-wwr -- a kernel patch that lets you configure bandwidth usage on your server

All of these softwares are free in Ubuntu, and other Linux systems as well.

But there are many kinds of Linux, and all of them can fulfill your needs. Wikipedia (click here) has a nice list of Linux distributions specifically designed as firewalls/routers.

[Rubberman]

!. You can create a Linux server to provide DHCP and routing/gateway services. DHCP automatically assigns a MAC to an IP address, unless you have a network node that is using a static address that conflicts with the DHCP address range that you have allocated.
2. By default, all systems share equally the available internet bandwidth, unless you install QOS (Qualtity Of Service) software.

The most popular OS for this is CentOS, a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) clone. If you need support (judging from your questions I think you do), then you should get Red Hat and pay for their support. A reasonable price for what you get.