What Makes This Network 'Tick'
Currently, I have three systems that are, shall we say, in a state of useability (along with enough componants to build an army of mediochre systems). My main server system (the one you're browsing right now) is a decicated Linux box. My desktop system currently runs Gentoo Linux 1.2 and 1.4, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 Professional. A FreeBSD install is planned for the future. My third system is my new baby; a shiny, new Laptop computer. It's a dual-boot between Win2k Pro and Gentoo Linux. All of these systems are linked together with a pair of SmartLink 5-port NWay 10/100 switches.
Hardware:
zeus.home.lan (zeus.snerk.org)
| Description: | Primary server. Serves as Internet gateway/firewall for the house. Runs Apache web server with PHP4 and Perl support, MySQL daemon, ProFTPD FTP daemon, Squid caching HTTP proxy, BIND 9 DNS server, SMTP, POP3, IMAPv4 mail server, Samba and NFS filesharing, RC5 personal key proxy, and network print server. |
| Processor: | AMD Athlon XP 1800 |
| RAM: | 512MB PC3200 DDR |
| HDD: | Western Digital WD800BB-75CAA0 ATA100 7200RPM (Capacity: 80GB) |
| NIC: |
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| Video: | S3 Inc. ViRGE/GX2 AGP |
| Monitor: | -- |
| Sound: | -- |
| Other: | -- |
| Description: | Primary workstation. High-powered, fast graphics. Boots multiple OSs for combination testing and gameplay. |
| Processor: | AMD Athlon 64 3500 |
| RAM: | 1GB PC3200 DDR |
| HDD: | Western Digital WD2500KS-D0MJB80 (Capacity: 250GB) |
| NIC: | nVidia nForce Network Controller 10/100MBit |
| Video: | ATI Technologies Inc Radeon R250 If [Radeon 9250] |
| Monitor: | Sony 60" 1080i HDTV |
| Sound: | nVidia nForce 8 Channel Digital |
| Other: | -- |
| Description: | |
| Processor: | AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1200 |
| RAM: | 512MB PC2700 DDR |
| HDD: | Western Digital WD400JB ATA100 7200RPM (Capacity: 40GB) |
| NIC: | Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 |
| Video: | nVidia Vanta 16MB 2xAGP |
| Monitor: | LG 19" LCD 1280x1024 |
| Sound: | Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 128 PCI |
| Other: | -- |
| Description: | |
| Processor: | Intel Pentium 4 Celeron 700MHz |
| RAM: | 128MB PC133 SDRAM |
| HDD: | Western Digital WD400BB-75CAA0 (Capacity: 40GB) |
| NIC: | 3Com 3c905B-TX 10/100 PCI |
| Video: | Intel 82810E Graphics Controller (64MB) |
| Monitor: | CyberVision DP50 1024x768 |
| Sound: | Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 |
| Other: | -- |
Software:
My primary OS of choice is Linux. It's the OS that powers my front-line computer, and the one in which I feel most comfortable for user-land experience. When I'm abroad with Prometheus, I'll generally use Win2k, but when I want to sit and enjoy my computer experience (as opposed to making myself so uncomfortable I concentrate on the job at hand), I'll boot into Linux.
My first Linux distribution was SuSE, which I started using at version 5.2 (or thereabouts) and slowly graduated up to version 7.2. My server had all forms of centralized management removed, and almost the entire system replaced with 'roll your own' packages. That lasted in such a state for about a year or so, until I decided I needed a method that would let me compile everything from source, check dependancies for me, and maintain a list of installed software. Basically, I wanted the FreeBSD ports system for Linux. Enter Gentoo Linux and the Portage system.
Installing Linux on my laptop was something I dreaded, mostly due to the volume of traffic on the 'net about the experience. If that many people are talking about it, and so many websites exist about it, it must be difficult; right?
Wrong! Installing Linux on this Toshiba Satellite laptop couldn't have been easier! All of the hardware was supported natively by the 2.4 kernel, and the APM and battery functions work like a charm. The only really noticeable difference between this and a desktop system (other than the nipple in the centre of my keyboard) is the existance of the Wmbattery dock app on my desktop.
Installing Gentoo on the laptop was as simple and straightforward as on a regular desktop machine. Remembering to save my XFree86 configuration file was the most difficult thing I faced during the install. Granted, it didn't compile the base system as quickly as my Athlon - but I had the weekend all to myself, so I took the time to do it right, and I haven't looked back since.
