Old Dual CPU for server use.

[pgisslen]

Hi

I've just bought an Dell Dual P2-300, 256 MB and 9.2 GB SCSI for almost nothing. The main purpose is to run, web, mail, dns, database, FW etc.

I'm about to buy a larger disk for file storage as well and the damn thing doesn't have CD-rom boot so I have to make start diskette :(

I've used Linux for years, but only as an user on other systems. I have no administration or installation experience. I'm not interested (yet) of tweaking and very detailed setup. I want something that is easy to install, upgrade, adminstrate and fairly secure. I'm not running a businees critical domain, just my family homepages and mailaccount.

What dist do you suggest?

By the way, I assume that dual CPU support is handled by the kernel so all dist is equal in that matter?

/Petter

[soleblazer]

I am a Suse fan, but really none of the distros are hard to setup.

Setting up services on the box will be pretty much the same regardless of distro choice.

[gehidore]

yes dual is controled by your kernel, but the programs are also a big part in it if you install binaries I do believe they will run for whatever machine they were built on, but if you install you progs from source they should use both procs but some will still only use the first one.

\/off topic\/

where by chance did you find this dual proc machine for "almost nothing"


being a slack convert i would have to say try slack but one of the dedhat babies should be easy to install on the duely.

[pgisslen]

gehidore: Bought it for about $45 in an second hand store They had about 10-15 of such computers, but most of them where "smaller"

BTW, dedhat=redhat? Misspelled by purpose? :)

Is Mandrake a bad choice? If not, which version, heard that 9.2 has a lot of problems...

[Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379]

Originally posted by pgisslen

The main purpose is to run, web, mail, dns, database, FW etc.

I've used Linux for years, but only as an user on other systems. I have no administration or installation experience. I'm not interested (yet) of tweaking and very detailed setup. I want something that is easy to install, upgrade, adminstrate and fairly secure. I'm not running a businees critical domain, just my family homepages and mailaccount.

What dist do you suggest?



Debian.

People say it's hard to install and configure, but that's just what they say. Once you've gotten the hang of using apt and you learn the "Debian Way" of doing things, it actually does make things easy to configure and keep updated.

Not that it makes a poor desktop choice or anything, but if I were going to set up a pure server machine, if I wasn't running one of the *BSDs (my ultimate favorite OSes), I'd definitely be running Debian.

[EnigmaOne]

Originally posted by gehidore
where by chance did you find this dual proc machine for "almost nothing"

Gehidore,
:D You need to get out of those pine trees and head for your local hardware liquidators.
If you're on the Left Coast, LA and Orange counties are veritable dumping grounds for boxen of all types.

[gehidore]

but they're so beautifull....

we dont have one local nearest one is the next state over (i live in hick country) even i own a gun here....

people here think $200 is cheap to replace a ded cable on a hd

and yes dedhat was spelled correctly redhat is dead so thus dedhat plus its a hog

[je_fro]

If I were you I'd get the Debian-bf2.4 floppies from
HERE (http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/linux/distributions/debian/dists/woody/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/bf2.4/)
No cd required, you'll just do a net install.

[bwkaz]

Originally posted by gehidore
yes dual is controled by your kernel, but the programs are also a big part in it Not really. As long as the programs you're running are multithreaded, they'll run on more than one processor.

And even if they're not, you'll have one program running on CPU0 and the next running on CPU1. Now, if the stuff that you run doesn't use a lot of CPU (the vast majority of programs spend 99.9% of their time waiting for user input, which doesn't count), then you won't see it, because CPU0 will be free almost all the time. But that's not because the programs don't support SMP or something like that, it's because CPU0 is free, so the kernel schedules most programs on CPU0 all the time.

if you install binaries I do believe they will run for whatever machine they were built on, If you mean one vs. both CPUs, then no, that's not correct. Binaries that you install, if they are threaded, will use both processors (because the kernel lets them). They do not need to have been compiled on an SMP machine.

Of course, if they were compiled for Athlon, they may not run well on the P2, but they will run (as long as they don't try to use SSE instructions -- I'm not sure, but this might be what you're saying too). Apart from SSE, the instruction set is exactly the same. If these were Pentium Classics (i586 rather than the P2's i686), then programs compiled for i686 probably wouldn't work, but that's not the case.

[pgisslen]

A picture of the beauty :-)

http://gisslen.com/dell.jpg

I had problems with the grafic card, the installation detected it correctly but I when X started the screen went black. Bought a SIS car for $5 and that fixed the problem.

I installed Mandrake, for learing. I think I'll try Debian later. Tomorrow I'm off for Denmark and visit a girl for a couple of weeks :D
When I come back I hope my ADSL is installed (with static IP), then I'll try to get mail and DNS working. Does anybody have links to a good DNS tutorial?

What is a SMP machine?

[bwkaz]

Symmetric MultiProcessor.

Most of them have 2 CPUs on one motherboard. A few of the more expensive Opterons, however, have support for 4 or maybe 8 (I'm not sure on the 8 though).

As for DNS, I think there's a DHCP+DNS thread somewhere in the How I Did It forum. But you may not be able to see it with the default thread view, because the default view only displays threads from the past 45 days. I'm pretty sure a search for DNS in just that forum will find it, though.

There are also a few howto's at www.tldp.org on the subject, though they're more of a "here's a working config file for this type of DNS server", and you get to extrapolate from there.