Simple file server - what distribution?

Hi,

I have an old PC (PII 300Mhz, 319Mb RAM) which I'd like to attach to my
home network as a file server. Can anyone suggest a suitable Linux
distribution to install on it? The sort of thing I'm looking for should
be:
- easy to install/configure (I'm not a Linux expert)
- lightweight (so as not to overtax the poor old dinosaur of a PC)
- focussed on file serving
- stable

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Martin

Martin wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have an old PC (PII 300Mhz, 319Mb RAM) which I'd like to attach to my
> home network as a file server. Can anyone suggest a suitable Linux
> distribution to install on it? The sort of thing I'm looking for should
> be:
> - easy to install/configure (I'm not a Linux expert)
> - lightweight (so as not to overtax the poor old dinosaur of a PC)
> - focussed on file serving
> - stable
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Martin

Debian GNU/Linux of coz

--
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

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Martin wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have an old PC (PII 300Mhz, 319Mb RAM) which I'd like to attach to my
> home network as a file server. Can anyone suggest a suitable Linux
> distribution to install on it? The sort of thing I'm looking for should
> be:
> - easy to install/configure (I'm not a Linux expert)
> - lightweight (so as not to overtax the poor old dinosaur of a PC)
> - focussed on file serving
> - stable
>
> Any suggestions?

Any one of many different distributions would satisfy your requirements. My
suggestion would be Slackware Linux (http://www.slackware.com/). It is a stable,
light-weight, full-function distro that can be installed on almost any
intel-compatable system. At a minimum, the full-function version needs an Intel
80486with 32Mb RAM, and 500Mb hard disk, although there is the "ZipSlack"
version that needs only about 100Mb hard disk (a Zip disk's amount of space).

FWIW, I currently have a file and network services server running Slackware on
an Intel Pentium (P120) system with 32Mb RAM and about 3Gb hard disk. It
supports SAMBA file services, a web server, a custom 'print-to-email' service,
and several other end-user services.

- --
Lew Pitcher
IT Specialist, Enterprise Data Systems,
Enterprise Technology Solutions, TD Bank Financial Group

(Opinions expressed are my own, not my employers')
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