Need Advice - Building A Home Server

[georgena]

Guys,

Here is the scenario. I have been given an old Pentium II 333 computer with 256MB or RAM. Obviously, this computer is nowhere near the top of the food chain these days.

First question. Do you feel this computer can serve as a home media server? I will not be capturing video with it but I want to use it as a media/file server. Ideally it will store all of my photos, music, and any video files that I pull from my camera or that I rip DVDs to.

Second question, assuming the answer is yes to the first question. What would be your first choice of distro for this purpose and why? Also consider that I would prefer to have a graphic interface to admin the server but I don't need or want any of the productivity apps or extras that would be needed with a desktop setup. One other thing to consider is that I would like to use this as my internet connection host. I have an unconventional setup where my internet comes via a USB aircard from Sprint. This is the only way I could get broadband.

OK considering all of this information please give me some suggestions. Thanks in advance for your input.

[tonyyarusso]

The machine is certainly capable of acting as a server. The main question for your use will be whether you need to be able to stream video from it, or if it's mostly a storage location and access speed isn't as critical. Regardless, you may find it worthwhile to upgrade the hard drive for both space and speed if possible.

Obviously the distro of choice here is Ubuntu. ;)

As far as a graphical interface, you may want to take a look at Ebox - it's a web-based management system that works on Ubuntu. http://doc.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/serverguide/C/ebox.html has some more details.