Best hardware configuration

[alin2xx7 0]

Hi guys.

 

I want to know the opinion of those of you that have installed Linux (Fedora and Mandrake) on many hardware configurations and can confirm or make suggestions about the below configuration I want to use.

 

I will use 2 computers with different roles, both having same configuration. What I need to know if the configurations are ok for what I am planning to use and if not please make suggestions.

(I need to stay in a very low budget)

 

These are the 2 computers :

 

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FEDORA Core 3 - this will be a computer that I want to use as :

 

1) gateway - all computers in the local network (1 or 2 windoze and 1 linux) will connect to Internet using this computer as gateway.

 

2) development server - used for developing web sites in PHP. (apache web server, samba, ftp ...)

 

3) workstation - there will be ONE user ONLY using this computer for :

- browsing on the Internet

- chat with gaim

- OpenOffice application suite

(KDE will be installed)

 

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Mandrake Linux Official 10.1

 

1) workstation - there will be ONE user ONLY using this computer for :

- browsing on the Internet

- chat with gaim

- OpenOffice application suite

(KDE will be installed)

 

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HARDWARE CONFIGURATION I PLAN FOR BOTH IS :

 

Motherboard: AS Rock FSB 333 vga+lan+sound on board

CPU: AMD SEMPRON 2300+, SOCKET A, FSB 333 MHz, L2 cache 256K

CPU Cooler: SOCKET A / 370, TITAN (D9TBCU35) <3200+

RAM: 256 MB DDRAM

HDD: 80GB 7200 RPM MAXTOR w/ 8 MB BUFFER

CD-ROM: 52X LG (CRD8522B) BULK

NETWORK CARD: REALTEK 10/100MBPS UTP

CASE: 350W MIDI ATX P4 BLACK/SILVER C.2628 336-01

SYSTEM COOLER: TITAN (TTC-004)

MONITOR: 17" AOC (HT731) FLAT, 1600X1200, TCO03

MOUSE: MOUSE PS/2 A4 TECH (SWOP53) OPTICAL

KEYBOARD: TASTATURA A4 TECH PS/2 (KBS-721) ANTI-RSI

 

Thanks a lot to all of you.

 

 

 

[BSchindler 0]

Well you have come to the right place. Most of us here have either a lot of computers on a network, have installed a lot of different Linux distros, or both.

 

I think you are short on RAM. Put at least 512 MB in. Also, don't know the LG CDROM. If it is just a reader, add $5 or $10 more and get a writer. If you are putting up a development machine / server you will definately want to be able to back your work up. CDs are dirt cheap these days and all serious development work should be backed up!

 

Next, if you are using FC3 machine for the purposes you say, specifically as a gateway, server and development machine,

*** DON'T DO IT ***

 

I would assume that you would put firewalling up, even still the purpose of a gateway/firewall is to ISOLATE all machines and processes from the internet. You would not want a failing firewall to permit your work to be corrupted. Yes, certainly one could put all this stuff in one box, but if you are not VERY network savvy and VERY familiar with setting up iptables to build a good firewall, you are only begging trouble.

 

If I were you, I would purchase a firewall router (On EBay for about $25.00). The beauty of these devices is once configured, they are maintennance free. Additionally, they function as NAT routers which make it easy to route incoming requests to different boxes (Apache, SQL, ftp, etc.) really easy to setup and alter to suit your changing test needs.

 

Hope these thoughts help.