OT Setting up a server....

[Chuck Wintle]

My nephew has asked me to help him set up a server and I have no idea how its done. He wants to use linux and it will be a school project. What's needed in terms of software/hardware to do this. I am not sure of what type of server he wants to setup but any general hints/ideas is appreciated. Thanks

[Brian Austin]

Depending on which flavor of OS you choose, Linux requirements are a little different than Windows requirements. Some Linux OS's are pretty close to true plug-n-play while others are a driver nightmare.

If you've never worked with Linux and it's an option rather than a requirement, I'd suggest going to Windows instead. There is a fairly steep learning curve for true 'server' activities on Linux.

If you must follow the Linux route, Mandrake is probably one of the easier installations. Start researching here: http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en-us/

Windows Server 2003 is available for trial download, with a 180-day time limit. You can also download Exchange 2003 (e-mail server) to add some apps to your new server.

Hardware-wise, it's going to vary considerably. Stripped down Linux systems on the 2.6 kernels can run comfortably in the early PentiumII class of processors with 128Mb RAM. The full blown version, with graphics, etc., should probably have 512Mb RAM on a P2-500 or faster (personal recommendation). Microsoft Windows Server 2003 will run on a similar system. Everything else in the computer can be fairly standard PC stuff. If it's permanent and cost isn't as much of a factor, I'd recommend going a SCSI route for the hard drives. Not required, though.

Brian
(10 Win2003 Servers at work, 1 Win2003 Server at home, and 2 Linux (Debian and SuSE) Servers at home)

[Roger Nixon]

Without knowing what the server's function(s) will be, advise will be pretty general.
Linux has a big advantage for a school project because it is free. I've been trying a couple of new distros, SuSE 10 and Ubuntu 5.10, and I'm very impressed with them as far as ease of installation and use. You can choose to set them up as a barebones type of server or a nice graphical desktop system.
There is a nice web based administrator control panel, Webmin (http://www.webmin.com/) that makes server setup and administration much easier.

[Andrew Ault]

Setting up a basic file and print sharing server using SUSE Linux is pretty straightforward. Installing SUSE is easy. I just installed 10.0 and it works great.

Download the CD-ROM ISO images and burn them to CD-ROM disks. You can get the images from:

http://www.opensuse.org/Download

If you would prefer, you can buy an already burned set of disks from SUSE (with support) or another vendor (just disks, no support). A vendor that I've have a good experience with is:

http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/index.html

Use a fairly modern, basic PC with standard stuff, nothing fancy. Install by booting from CD-ROM. The installation process is automatic.

Samba Server

You will need to set up Samba server on the SUSE box. This allows Windows (and Linux machines with a SMB client) machines to connect to and use the SUSE box as a server.

An animated tutorial on setting up Samba can be found at:

http://itsyourpc.org/SuSE_Contest/SMB/SMB.html

It's a great demonstration that you can start and stop as you proceed.

It will probably be easy - the key is using a decent PC of recent vintage with a built-in network interface. Make sure to write things down like your root password, workgroup name, etc.

- Andy

[Rich Konopka]

You should find some good material to get you started:

Do It ur self linux (http://www.extremetech.com/category2/0,1695,644478,00.asp)

[Andrew Ault]

I was at home during lunch and installed SUSE on a machine. You'll need to include networking software in the installation. Otherwise you would need to install it using YaST before setting up Samba. When you are asked, select KDE as the interface - it is the most supported in SUSE.

By the way. SUSE is enjoyable to use. It has a pretty interface and things just work. For example, I plugged in my USB drive thingy and it saw it right away. I opened a letter I had started in Word on another machine, did some work on it and saved it. Now, I've got it open in Word again. Easy breezy.

Have fun.

[Michael Perata]

Actually, Win XP Pro has all of the tools to setup a network.

Print Server
File sharing
FTP
Internet Server

[Jim Becker]

Charles, ditto to what Roger said...there are servers and there are servers. Applications/functions dicated "what" and "how".