Ugh, tired but won't give up.

[okih-imus]

Ok, I've gone through lots of linux distributions, manuals, and TIME. And I've got a headache...or 10. Reading makes me sleepy and I am about ready to pull a Rip Van Winkle. Nothing seems to work well for my computer. My dad says I'm not properly setting things up, that's why it's slow or won't work. He doesn't have the time to help me though. So I need your help!

Here's what I want to be able to do on my computer.
I want to run Apache, PHP, and MySql.
I want security to be at the highest it can be.
I want the server to be as fast and stable as possible.

So I'm using linux for a server, not a desktop computer. I don't mind using the console at all; GUI or no GUI doesn't matter I just want the performance. And that's one of the great things about linux, right? Using your hardware in the best way possible?

Here's my computer information.

Motherboard: NVidia nForce 2 Chipset based. K7N2 Delta-L. MSI.
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1.83Ghz 333FSB
Memory: 2 X 256MB Corsair DDR 400 PC3200 CAS2.5
Video Card: NVidia GeForce2 MX/MX400
Sound Card: Creative SB Live! Series (WDM) AND I have onboard sound.
Hard Drive: Western Digital 60gig
CD-ROM Drive: 50x cd-rom
Monitor: NEC MultiSync 3FGe (Max: 1024 x 768 60refresh rate 32bit color)

I'm not asking you to do this for me (although it would be nice ), I'm just asking for help. I just want it to work finally!
So...for me, what would the best distribution be?

[smindinvern]

Looks like a nice system, just about any linux distro should run relatively fast on that, but for what you're talking about, I would recommend Fedora Core 3, of Redhat ES if you have the money. Because of the fact that redhat specializes in server software, I can imagine that for this purpose, it would one of the best. I have also configured a couple redhat servers, which worked very well and without incident. Most important of all it was very easy to configure them, and I know that redhat (Fedora) has a very good firewall, + lots of proxy server software

[sarumont]

Looks like a nice system, just about any linux distro should run relatively fast on that, but for what you're talking about, I would recommend Fedora Core 3, of Redhat ES if you have the money. Because of the fact that redhat specializes in server software, I can imagine that for this purpose, it would one of the best.

I would never suggest FC for a server. It's a desktop-oriented distro that's (by default) bloated. You'll be better off using something like slackware or gentoo where nothing is installed that you don't want/need.

Most important of all it was very easy to configure them, and I know that redhat (Fedora) has a very good firewall, + lots of proxy server software

All GNU/Linux distros have the same firewall capabilities. It's called IPTables, and it's in the kernel. Certain distros may have good graphical front ends to IPTables configuration, but it's all the same firewall.

As I said above, I personally would use Gentoo or Slackware for this task. As far as speed, a Gentoo stage1 install will provide you with everything custom-compiled to take advantage of your CPU (if you configure your CFLAGS correctly ). Either way, both are lite.

Performance? Compile your own kernel, removing things you don't need. Compile apache/mysql/other servers from source, disabling things you don't need/won't use. Use hdparm, don't install/run things you don't need, read up on tweaking the various servers that you run and post here if you have any pickles or questions.

[smindinvern]

For speed, there is no doubt that a custom compiled os like gentoo would be much faster, but gentoo requires a somewhat complex installation procedure, I was considering ease of installation and use in that post. Also, Redhat can be made to run on a very minimal and efficient install, plus it's ease of use is a definite plus. For all other purposes though, something more lightweight would be a good idea, and I DO recommend recompiling your kernel whatever os you install.

[PeasleeR]

Or try CentOS. It is pretty much the same as Redhat's enterprise level software, and is geared towards being a server, not a desktop OS.

Other than that, I agree with sarumont if you feel like doing a little bit more complicated gentoo install.

Robert Peaslee

[okih-imus]

Ah, I've tried to install Gentoo before. I had problems with it but I'm trying again. Right now I can't seem to get it to see the internet. I have a dlink router with dhcp enabled. The router isn't assigning an IP to the computer when I boot into Gentoo.

[sealfood]

And CentOS is free!

[PeasleeR]

Did I forget to mention that? :P

Robert Peaslee

[sealfood]

think so-I've read your post again. Maybe it was implied.

[okih-imus]

Well Gentoo can detect my network interface, but I still can't get connected to the internet(never could figure this out). I'll keep trying.