What components should I put in this Linux server?

[Ace69]

I have just began to learn Linux and I have it installed on my main computer. It is triple booting at the moment. This is nice and everyting, but I would like to have a dedicated box for Red Hat 7. I will be running a web server on this and also maybe on down the road a mail server or DNS.

Question: What are some good recommendations for components? I am getting ready to build this and I have no clue on what to do. I know that I probably need alot of RAM and I am planning on installed at least 256MB in there, but that is the only thing I know.

Should I go with an old 200-300MHz machine, or do I need to splurge and get a 500MHz system?

I just need some suggestions.

 

[Ace69]

No one runs a Linux server in here?

 

[ERJ]

X Windows or No X Windows?

Actually it makes a big difference. I have a Cyrix 150Mhz machine with 64mb or RAM that runs linux with apache and sendmail and acts as a router with hardly any CPU usage. If you run X Windows you will need a bit more to be comfortable but a 200-300Mhz machine should be very adaquate.

For a server the components don't really need to be anything special (at least I am guessing for your needs). Get a few supported ethernet cards (the netgear fa310tx ones work quite nicely) a cheap supported display adapter (most are for 2d purposes. I assume you will not need any 3d support for a server) and a decent size hard drive (6gb+). That should make a linux server that will do fine for most anything for a 1 person network.

Good Luck,
ERJ