• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

What role should I give this Linux system?

K

kamikazekyle

Senior member
This is a bit of a multi-category post, but I think it fits best in operating systems. If not, let me know =P

I've got a spare system which I'm contemplating using as a Linux box. Asus SK8N, Athlon FX-51, 1GB ECC RAM, GeForce 7900GT (or 7600, I forget at the moment), and a 30GB IDE drive. I can't for the life of me figure out what to do with it. It's hard drive is far too tiny to use as a media server or file server/backup location, my residential ISP blocks HTTP and FTP for server applications, and the system isn't really built to be silent. I have a hardware firewall already, and my printer is already connected via Ethernet drop on my switch. I also don't have a spare monitor, so I'll have to SSH, remote desktop, or hook it up via alternate input on my monitor.

I thought about using it as a general chat/internet/office machine, but I already have PowerBook that's totally silent and fills those roles. I'm not looking to invest any additional money into the machine. It *would* make a good web server if the ports weren't blocked, or a file/media server if I had a lot more storage.

I really seem to be missing something else I could use the system for (outside of a Folding box), so does anyone have any ideas? I'd like to actually have a use for the system, other than sitting there till I want to tweak with Linux, since I already have a dual boot setup.
 
Web server applications don't HAVE to run on port 80, or ftp (try scp) applications don't HAVE to run on port 21.

It''s all in the configuration options.

 
Hrm, could. Already have a SVN and CMS up on my actual webhost. Can't say I do much locally that would warrant a local SVN. I might just have to use it as a tinker system to test compatibility and learn *nix only programs. I *might* even grab a copy of Solaris x86 to brush up on that. Even though I do strictly hardware at work, it's nice to know a bit about the software side of the Sun boxes that we have that are certifiable antiques =P I would really like to use this thing as a NAS or Myth box so I wouldn't have to keep my main PC on all the time, but I just don't have the storage nor money to purchase the capacity at the moment. Much appreciated on the suggestion though =)

Very on the ports. I could always run a web server off port 8181 (for random example), but I'd have to make sure that links pointed to the port; I'd like to stay with standard ports if using standard services. However, this also rolls over to the fact I already have dedicated external web hosting. Hrm, maybe I could use it as a tunnel machine perhaps? Maybe a dedicated game server? *scratches head*

Perhaps I should just set it "World Domination" mode and set it loose.
 
Use it for multimedia stuff then.

If you have a file server already then just export a share via nfs or fuse.

For my home desktop and file server I just have a share that I mount at ~/storage that I use to store big files like movies or my music collection. So it doesn't realy matter how much drive space you have locally to a paticular Linux machine as long as you have plenty of space on some other Linux machine and your network is reliable.

You can setup something like Icecast so you can listen to streams at work or something like that. I like doing stuff like that. It'll stream ogg vorbis. And you can let other people do it. Plus there is a way to distribute it in a peer to peer fasion so that you can share out the bandwidth between friends and such if they want to listen to it also.


You can also use something like http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/ just to have two desktop desktop.

I did that for a long time with my laptop. I'd come home, have it connect then I'd combine it with my desktop.

I use ssh shared keys with ssh-agent so that I'd didn't have to re-typing my passwords all the time.

Then I'd used a combination of X over ssh, synergy, and pulse audio so that both things would end up more-or-less one continious desktop. Applications on one machine would open on the other, I'd have the mouse and keyboard go back and forth between machines and sound would play on my stereo.

Not perfect, but worked pretty well in practice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top