Bare minimum requirements for a server ONLY sharing internet access?

[Scrapster]

I'd like to share internet access between a couple PC's and broadband connection. I was thinking about putting together a box which distributes internet access to my other computers. I want to do this as cheaply as possible w/o sacrificing alot of performance. Though, the only performance would be in distributing inet access. I guess it must be able to run Win98 (think I need ICS to do it).

Anyways, what kind of equipment would I need (pentium1, 2, hubs, routers, nics, etc...)???

Scrapster

 

[purplehayes]

You could probably make due with a 486 believe it or not if you were to install Linux. If you go with Windows though, you'll need to go with a Pentium.

Which ever box you go with, you'll need two NICs. One for broadband and one for sending the signal back out to your other computers. The cheapest way to go after that is with just a hub that all of your computers plug into.

You could just buy a router though and plug all of your computers into it, too.

PH

 

[Cnuke]

Low level pen. I have similar setup. I am using a P233 with 96md ram. I am running Prof Win2K and sharing my ISDN modem. Unfortunatly that is a broad as my band will get in my country town. It does works great. If you go to compgeeks.com they have pII450 motherboards for $25.00. What a bargin!!! This would be great for you. After you get CPU setup up you will need a hub to bring all cpus on network together and point toward the 2000 box for sharing the ICW.

 

[Davegod75]

how easy is it to do the software part of this?

 

[Ladi]

Why not ~$100-150 for a broadband router? Setup basically boils down to plugging it in and setting computers on the network to DHCP.

~Ladi

 

[blstriker]

I use a 486/133mhz running win98se for about a year sharing DSL. Runs just as fast as my linksys router. The amount of data coming of a DSL/Cable line is in reality so little compared to a 100baseT or even 10baseT that it requires very little. My 486/133 had 32megs of ram since that's the minimum that win98se requires before you can even install the OS. Win98se ran dog slow, but my DSL was just fine. Win98se has ICS in it.

 

[Wik]

Take one 486 with as little as 6megs of ram and one floppy drive and set up a router using Freesco. Very simple to use and setup. Once you get the computer running you can have it setup within a few minutes. Freesco

 

[Kzoo]

I have to agree with Wik and say go with FreeSCO. Right now, I have it running on an old Compaq 486/50 with 16 meg of ram and an even older 80 meg hard drive. With FreeSCO, even the hard drive isn't necessary(but it is nice); you only need a floppy. You only need a monitor and keyboard for the initial setup - after that, you can configure it by telnetting in, or a nice web-based interface. Heck, it even comes with a very nice firewall installed. If you have an old 486 (or even a 386) lying around, this really is the way to go. Just drop in two network cards, and away you go.

 

[Rendus]

I've done this on my cable with something as low as a 486SX/33 with 4MB of RAM and a 40MB HD for Linux. If you're doing Windows, go with at least a P100.