spec me a file server os!

PCDave

PCDave

PCDave

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I have to much spare time on my hands this week and have decided last night i would create a little file server using linux to aid my learning. i have used fedorra before and a knoppix live cd however i really want to get to grips with linex. please dont spec me gentoo as i dont have the time to wait for it to compile i just want something i can download an ISO from install it and go and play around with the settings. i have a very poor machine spec (two dual p2s, 256mb ram and a voodoo 5 card) i am confident of using a command line interface so that is not a problem. what version would you recommmend and why?
 
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If you want to play with linux servers, then as above, CentOs or Fedora...

Both are based on RHEL, therefore excellent for learning (RHEL is probably the most popular choice for a linux server os). Fedora is "bleeding edge" so wouldn't be my first choice for a server, whereas CentOs is binary compatibly with RedHat and falls in the "stable" tree.

EDIT: Hmmm... 256 MB ram? that's fine if you're not planning on having X installed; but if you are, choose a very light window manager like XFCE or fluxbox. I'm pretty sure that CentOs doesn't ship with these by default (I believe there is a choice between KDE or Gnome), although these can be added in after the install.
 
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i decided to use CentOS because i've never used it and decided it would be a challenge. i found a download site it comes in 6 cd isos...is that right?
 
i have used fedorra for a file server before and it worked fine until we ran into major problems with samba shares. the config files could not be configured correctly after a power cut and the server messed up so we reverted back to server 03. (this happen a while a go and drives have been formattted since then)

once i have tried installing cent os and got that working with a file or two on there proberbly music or films i will then try and stream them to another pc on the network and have a look and see what else i can do with the server before i try solarisis and see how i get on with that. as i said this wont be in general use but only as a learning aid so will proberbly try multiple os's if time permits
 
Wouldn't use Fedora/Ubuntu/SuSE for a file server, go CentOS, debian or gentoo.

Main reasons are they're full of bloat and primarily aimed at a desktop environment, by all means try them though.

Edit: Just realised you machine specs. I'd also look http://www.archlinux.org/
 
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For a small home server I don't think that the usability hassles of CentOS are worth it. Ubuntu Server or Debian Stable would be just as good but easier to set up and maintain, especially since there is such a large community around these distros.

Wikipedia runs on Ubuntu servers. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.

If your goal is to learn about a system you might be employed to work with one day CentOS might be a better choice since RHEL is a common distro in use in "enterprise" environments.
 
earlier I successfully installed cent OS with no problems at all. took a while though on those dual p2s lol. tomorrow will look into setting up shares and learning my way round some commands. will then try and access the shares from an xp pro machine i have laying around.
 
Ubuntu Linux has the biggest vocal community. Most users are relatively new, help is always available and people seem very inclined to do so.

Distrowatch league
Rank Distribution
1 Ubuntu (debian base) (large lead)
2 openSUSE (slackware base)
3 Mint (debian base)
4 Fedora (redhat base)
5 Debian (debian base)
6 Mandriva (redhat base)
7 PCLinuxOS (redhat base)
8 CentOS (redhat base)
9 Sabayon (gentoo base)
10 Puppy

That's not to say it's better than anything else, but Linux has been a floating turd in the minds of normal folk for so long that it helps to push up the numbers of something popular. Which in the end should help keep Debian running, although some nerds aren't too keen.

So, Ubuntu 8.04 (will need the 'alternative' installer or the 'server' disc)
Or Debian stable.

Additionally, look up how to add vga lines to your grub/boot/menu.lst kernel line.
If you're going to use console only then running it at 1280 is far better than using the useless default resolution.
We can help you on here should you get that far.
 
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I wouldn't use the distrowatch page hit ranking as a basis to pick a Linux distribution. With 256mb of ram I'd ditch anything running X and just SSH into the file server. If it where me setting this up I'd plump for either a base Debian stable install and only add the packages I needed or do something similar with Fedora if this is more for home use.
 
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