Build a second PC for a home network - to do what?

[crimson117]

I've got almost enough spare parts for an extra computer. But what would I use it for?

What kinds of things do you do with your home network, other than share files among different family members' computers?

 

[minendo]

Firewall, file server, HTPC

 

[Sideswipe001]

SETI crunching? For fun?

 

[Muzzy]

Well, my second is for my wife to use when I'm playing Counter Strike or Day of Defeat. Can't be interrupt during that time, you know

 

[1sikbITCH]

Use the second pc to experiment with, so you don't screw up the first one.

I'm learning linux on my spare, and when I finish acquiring my watercooling parts, I'll learn how to watercool my TEC on it so I don't fry my good pc.

 

[drag]

Use it for a file server, a router, or just to experament with.

Stick a big HD on it, buy a DVD burner for it, put a UPS on it, install linux on it and share files via SAMBA.

With the Linux OS and the UPS for the occasional brown out you can have a nice safe place to store files long term. Expect 300+ day uptimes.

Like movies or music would be great for it.

Then use the DVD burner to burn backups for your most important data. If you install Fedora or Debian or Gentoo on it you can use package managers (Apt/Yum for Fedora, Apt for Debian, Portage for Gentoo.) to easily keep it up to date. Very important.

Then if you want to mess around with it more you can use stuff like Video lan to make it a video streamer, or Ice caster for audio. You can setup a FTP site on it, or do a website from your basement.

Lots of stuff.

To remotely configure this stuff from your windows computers you can use Webmin for a webbased configuration tool, A vnc server to run a GUI(don't need to actually have X windows running at the time), and Putty.exe for a command line thru SSH.

Also there is specific distros created to do this like Clarkconnect. They also have support and options for professional usage like a office server for a small business, but the home edition is free.

Personally I prefer to build it myself using Debian or another distro, though.

 

[beatle]

The duallie in my sig is a gateway/backup server. The tbred is used in my bedroom for listening to music, checking the weather, and soon watching TV.

 

[Wolfsraider]

I vote that you add a distributed computing project on it...no matter what else you do with it.
There is no better feeling than helping to find a cure for cancer,or to answer the age old question "is there other life out there",or to help find a new drug that fights a disease.Plus you would be on a great team ...and putting wasted cpu cycles to work.

there a number of different projects to choose from,stop by the dc forum to check them out,or PM me if you are intrested.

A lot of folks also use the second machine as a download box...and a streaming machine to your computer saves space on your hdd lol

either way Good luck and Good adventures to you

mike

 

[crimson117]

Thanks everyone those are some great ideas! You all convinced me to cough up the extra $50 or so of parts I'll need to make it a working PC.

lol drag I think I'm going to actually try doing most of those things you suggested

I think the first thing's going to be a linux based private fileserver to access my movies/mp3's wherever I go.

wolfsraider I do seti on my home and work pc; maybe I'll put a folding client on this new pc.

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

The problem with older computers is that they become outdated for the wife/kids, or folding.
Take me for example. My old main rig was a P2-450. The wife and kid used it for AOL, Word, making cards, and I used it for Quicken. But the kid found it too slow using Photoshop 7.0. The program would take 1 minute to load. The machine would lock up at random times, having Windoze 98SE on it. I tried folding on it, and barely made the time limit for 1 unit, taking 3 days to process it.

Sure, if you can make a new machine from left over parts, fine. But in the end, the machine will be outdated. You need at least 256mb of ram for XP.

My mom has a P3-600 with Windoze 98SE. I'll be upgrading her soon to my old P3 1Ghz with a fresh install of XP. Even that machine seems slow now.

Our new main rig is the P4 3.4c with a new install of XP. The kid just wuvs it, hasn't crashed yet. And I'll have to build another one for me because I don't get any gaming time at night.

 

[EeyoreX]

The problem with older computers is that they become outdated for the wife/kids, or folding.
Take me for example. My old main rig was a P2-450. The wife and kid used it for AOL, Word, making cards, and I used it for Quicken. But the kid found it too slow using Photoshop 7.0. The program would take 1 minute to load. The machine would lock up at random times, having Windoze 98SE on it. I tried folding on it, and barely made the time limit for 1 unit, taking 3 days to process it.

I can point directly to the "problem" you refer to. It is Windows 98, that and using Photoshop 7? If you seriously thought a P2 was going to touch PS 7 you were greatly mistaken. Old hardware is no more or less stable than new hardware.

Sure, if you can make a new machine from left over parts, fine. But in the end, the machine will be outdated. You need at least 256mb of ram for XP.

The new machines people buy/build ware also outdate within months. My "old" Athlon 1700+ Pally is terribly slow if I wanted to use it for Photoshop 7 (that, by the way, was a terrible basis for use of an old computer). But the 1700+ is far more than adequate to sit on my network as a file server. If I had Linux know-how I could have made it a firewall/gateway. I could have used it for streaming videos or music. It would be far more than adequate for any of these tasks, or more.

Our new main rig is the P4 3.4c with a new install of XP. The kid just wuvs it, hasn't crashed yet. And I'll have to build another one for me because I don't get any gaming time at night.

Newsflash. Your new main rig is already outdated too. Like the saying goes "Your computer is obsolete the moment you leave the store with it." Or however you bought it/built it.

The bottom line is that there are a dozen uses for an old computer. If you have money to throw away buying/building a newer computer for all your "old computer is fine" uses, go ahead. THe industry will love you. The rest of us can use our older hardware that still has a lot of good, usefull life left to live. I imagine my "old" and "outdated" server will last a couple years in some capacity or another.

\Dan

 

[mrweirdo]

Im myself just picked up an old dell optiplex pentium 1 computer. I know i will install linux on it. Dunno what use it will be yet. I dont have a dedicated conection at home and I allready have a linux server 800mhz tbird in a big ass server tower in my closet doing such things as, nat masquarade, filesharing, and development testing for my site.

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: NoGodForMe
Take me for example. My old main rig was a P2-450. The wife and kid used it for AOL, Word, making cards, and I used it for Quicken. But the kid found it too slow using Photoshop 7.0. The program would take 1 minute to load.

It's unreasonable to expect Photoshop 7, an extremely high end photo-editing program released in 2002, to run on hardware that was high end in 1998.

What about the other uses you mentioned: AOL, word, card, quicken; were those too slow?

I'm not looking to have a high end second machine, just a good enough one.

FYI it's going to be at least a tbird 1.4 ghz (probabaly Athlon XP-2000+) with 1 gig of 2100 ram, and at least 120 gb hard disk. Integrated sound, lan, video or a 9200SE I have lying around. So it won't be too bad

I wouldn't have dismantled it but that "mobile barton 2500" craze drew me in

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

The other apps (word, quicken, AOL) run fine on the old machine. File sharing progs also work great, like Kazaa and FTP, but I don't run them anymore. And older computer will be fun to tinker with, and play older games.

 

[TeeJay1952]

I have 2nd PC in bedroom hooked to stereo. 233 Pentium 2 with SB Live and ata card for harddrive compatability. Win 98SE and Winamp plus tunes are only thing on it. My wife and I can turn it off and on without monitor.

 

[Bonesdad]

pRon

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
pRon

That's the main use for a primary pc. I'm looking for other uses