Win2k Server for P3-450 server?

[Avatar26]

I am interested in setting up a server with a P3-450 I have laying around, and I am looking for the cheapest way to do this. I do want to be able to host a site from here, as well as share files and printers through the network. Will Win2k Server work well? If so, how cheap is it possible to find this for? Any suggestions you can offer would be great.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

It should work fine. No idea about price.

 

[pac1085]

Originally posted by: Avatar26
I am interested in setting up a server with a P3-450 I have laying around, and I am looking for the cheapest way to do this. I do want to be able to host a site from here, as well as share files and printers through the network. Will Win2k Server work well? If so, how cheap is it possible to find this for? Any suggestions you can offer would be great.

The cheapest way would be not using any version of windows. You can do everything that you want with Linux, Apache and Samba. If you really do have to use windows, I think Win2k server would be overkill(and a waste of money). You can do all that stuff with 2k pro, or even 95/98(not reccomended)

 

[akseli]

If you wanna waste a BIG buck you could go with 2kServer, but if you want to be smart, check out Windows NT Server from ebay ... that should be cheap and it should do the trick... ofcoarse if money is not object you COULD spend 3 grand on Server 2003 ... hehe ... anyway, smartest AND cheapest (and by the way, fastest too) would be to go with Linux RedHat or Mandrake ... maybe even suse...

www.redhat.com
www.mandrake-linux.com
www.suse.com

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Avatar26
I am interested in setting up a server with a P3-450 I have laying around, and I am looking for the cheapest way to do this. I do want to be able to host a site from here, as well as share files and printers through the network. Will Win2k Server work well? If so, how cheap is it possible to find this for? Any suggestions you can offer would be great.

Win2K will work fine, recommend at least 256 (if not 512) meg of memory tho.
Bill

 

[Buddha Bart]

Windows 2003 Server will cost you about a grand. If you can get ahold of the special web-edition (which will probably still do everything you need) it'll be about $400.

Windows 2000 Server is almost exactly the same, about a grand.

Windows 2000 Professional will cost about $300. It can also do what you've asked for. However I'm pretty sure IIS doesnt come on the CD, only a stripped down PWS-like webserver. You could either use that (it'll probably handle your needs) or use apache on windows.

Spending a dime on Windows NT would be retarded.

You could also do all of this with linux for free if you wanted. Just depends on which OS you feel like learning.

bart

 

[nightowl]

The cheapest legal way to get Win2k Server would probably be to buy one of the 2k Server books that has a 120 Day evaluation copy. You will not be able to have it installed forever but you can learn how to use it.

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: Buddha Bart
Windows 2003 Server will cost you about a grand. If you can get ahold of the special web-edition (which will probably still do everything you need) it'll be about $400.

Windows 2000 Server is almost exactly the same, about a grand.

Windows 2000 Professional will cost about $300. It can also do what you've asked for. However I'm pretty sure IIS doesnt come on the CD, only a stripped down PWS-like webserver. You could either use that (it'll probably handle your needs) or use apache on windows.

Spending a dime on Windows NT would be retarded.

You could also do all of this with linux for free if you wanted. Just depends on which OS you feel like learning.

bart

That's assuming he has to spend the retail MSRP amount for it. I've been able to find standard @ retail for less than $600

Or if you're a non-profit get it for $30

-Spy

 

[spyordie007]

Here we go, I dont know anything about the retailer though (and they dont have 2K3 for that cheap yet):
Win 2K Standard Server OEM $600

-Spy

 

[Avatar26]

Actually, I'm trying out 2003, it seems to run pretty well. A little slow on a P3 with 256MB of RAM, but WTH
I wish I knew more about networking, I would eventually have a server set up to do ICS, FTP and Web serving, File serving, and Print serving... It would be really nice if there was a way (and there probably is, I just have no idea how) to host applications like Word, Excel, etc... We have some HD space-challenged systems in the house and it would be great to install the software on the server and allow the desktops to run it off the server...

<sighs> Someday I'll get an education.:beer:

 

[spyordie007]

terminal services

 

[Avatar26]

terminal services

Ok, that means very little to me at this point... If I understand correctly, that would mean they would literally be running a session on the server, not on their native OS. Everything they would see would actually be on the server, correct?

 

[bsobel]

Ok, that means very little to me at this point... If I understand correctly, that would mean they would literally be running a session on the server, not on their native OS. Everything they would see would actually be on the server, correct?

You got it. If you've used the 'remote desktop' feature in XP, you've used terminal services. The programs run on the server, just the mouse/keyboard/display/sound (and a few other stuff such as printers) get remoted to the 'client'. The client can be anything from a dedicated terminal, a 'smart display', or even windows xp running the terminal services client.

Bill

 

[LuckyTaxi]

i had 2k running on a P-233 as a PDC. damn thing was slow though

 

[Avatar26]

For those who suggest Terminal Services, one of my main goals with this is to reduce costs. As I understand it, you need to have separate licenses for each client, and these are separate from the licensing structure that is included in the Enterprise license. I want to run this network with the one server only, no additional licensing servers or additional license purchases. Is this how the terminal services work or am I "on the ganj"?

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: Avatar26
For those who suggest Terminal Services, one of my main goals with this is to reduce costs. As I understand it, you need to have separate licenses for each client, and these are separate from the licensing structure that is included in the Enterprise license. I want to run this network with the one server only, no additional licensing servers or additional license purchases. Is this how the terminal services work or am I "on the ganj"?

Either way you look at it you are going to have to have licences to run this stuff. If you have multiple people connecting into your terminal server you will need enough CALs for the people you have connected.

-Spy

 

[Avatar26]

Thank you all for your help and suggestions. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to do some reading before I delve any further into this project. This whole thing is starting to make me feel like Rainman. Does anyone know of any sites/books that would help me get started on setting up a network and working with application/file/terminal servers? As always, thanks in advance for your help!

 

[skyking]

If you ditch the requirement for printer serving, and use network or hardware printservers, I second the many suggestions to use a 'nix and samba. (printing is a ah heck in unix, cross platform)
Filesharing webserver, namserver, dhcp, those are all readily done by freebsd, for example. As the name implies, the price is nice too.

 

[Avatar26]

Originally posted by: skyking
If you ditch the requirement for printer serving, and use network or hardware printservers, I second the many suggestions to use a 'nix and samba. (printing is a ah heck in unix, cross platform)
Filesharing webserver, namserver, dhcp, those are all readily done by freebsd, for example. As the name implies, the price is nice too.

I have been hearing a lot of that, but unfortunately, I'm a harware guy, not a software guy, and all these Unix-based platforms are a complete mystery to me, never even touched a 'nix box. I would really like to stick with windows for the server at this point until I've had time to build a Unix based system and learned how to use it.

 

[skyking]

I would really like to stick with windows for the server at this point until I've had time to build a Unix based system and learned how to use it.

There's no time like the present
I understand the desire to stick with something you are familiar with, but If you do want to learn that stuff, put a 'nix on some old machine you have lying around, and give it a try.