Which OS for home (torrent-/file-) server (very old hardware!)

CiBi · Nov 16, 2012

Okey so I have a very old computer that I'm using as a torrent server (and I also want to start using it as a file server). So basicly it has to run Teamviewer and uTorrent (or any other torrent client and remote access software).

Currently its running Windows XP, and that does the job, but because I am an OCN'er I want to have the best OS for this server.

So what OS would you guys suggest?
I was thinking of Ubuntu Server, should i use version 12.10 or 12.04? Should I install the 32bit version or the 64bit version?
Or would an Windows Server be better?

I have almost no knowledge about server operating systems so any advice is welcome.

These are the specs of the server:
motherboard: Microstar MS-7091
cpu: Intel Pentium 4 550 (1 core 2 threads @ 3.40GHz)
memory: 3 dimms for a total of 1024MB DDR memory @ 200MHz & CL3-3-3-8 now 4 dimms, total 2GB DDR mem
gpu: NVIDIA GeForce 6610 XL (128MB of GDDR3 memory, both core & memory @ 400MHz)
OS harddisk: Western Digital Raptor 36GB (10.000rpm)
DATA harddisk: external WD drives (connected by USB)

Thank you in advance for your help.

CiBi

DizZz · Nov 16, 2012

since your hardware is so old, any of the newer distros will overwhelm your computer with bloat so i would recommend looking into a distro called slitaz. it is a very lightweight distro but still has almost all the features of something like ubuntu. you can use teamviewer and transmission on it and still have extra ram available. the whole OS is only ~35mb so you can boot it off a cd or usb drive incredibly easy. it is not heavy on system resources so your old computer will still be able to run quickly. i have an old computer with the same processor as you and it's running slitaz beautifully. test it out in a vm before installing it if you want to see what it has to offer.

website:
http://www.slitaz.org/en/

CiBi · Nov 16, 2012

Thx for the info, i'll look into Slitaz. It reminds me of Damn Small Linux.

What about Windows 2000 server or Windows 2003 server?

DizZz · Nov 16, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by CiBi

Thx for the info, i'll look into Slitaz. It reminds me of Damn Small Linux.
What about Windows 2000 server or Windows 2003 server?

it is similar to dsl except its more advanced and even smaller resource wise. as for windows server, you can try them but they're pretty resource intensive which might be a detriment to the speed of your computer.

Plan9 · Nov 22, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by DizZz

since your hardware is so old, any of the newer distros will overwhelm your computer with bloat so i would recommend looking into a distro called slitaz. it is a very lightweight distro but still has almost all the features of something like ubuntu. you can use teamviewer and transmission on it and still have extra ram available. the whole OS is only ~35mb so you can boot it off a cd or usb drive incredibly easy. it is not heavy on system resources so your old computer will still be able to run quickly. i have an old computer with the same processor as you and it's running slitaz beautifully. test it out in a vm before installing it if you want to see what it has to offer.
website:
http://www.slitaz.org/en/

You do realise he has a gig of RAM and 128MB of graphics card memory? Pretty much any Linux distro would work fine with those specs.

Personally I'd still recommend running a GUI-less OS (Debian minimal install, Arch, CentOS minimal) but he could just as easily get away with a "fat" install of Ubuntu.

And Windows 2000 would easily run on that system too (I still have a dual Celeron 500MHz with 512MB RAM server that runs smoothly).

Personally, I'd opt for either Arch or Debian. But that's purely personal preference.

@OP: Ubuntu Server is fine. Use 32bit as I'm pretty sure your CPU is only 32bit, plus with a system of that spec and designated function (SAMBA + torrent client), you may find a 32bit OS runs faster than 64bit even if your CPU is 64bit.

CiBi · Nov 22, 2012

Thank you

Also a friend had some DDR laying arround so now my server is running 4x 512MB of DDR. I think i'll just try windows server 2003 and some linux variants untill I find the best one. Since no one has really one answer for a good os.

DizZz · Nov 23, 2012

if you want a bit of a challenge and a really customizable OS look at arch linux. you can make it do whatever you want although it's not noob friendly

Plan9 · Nov 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by CiBi

Thank you

Also a friend had some DDR laying arround so now my server is running 4x 512MB of DDR. I think i'll just try windows server 2003 and some linux variants untill I find the best one. Since no one has really one answer for a good os.

"best OS" is subjective. Personally I never consider Windows a good server OS for my needs as I'm so well trained on Linux that Windows is completely foriegn to me. But other people find the reverse to be true.

So the best advice is just install whatever you feel most comfortable in.

mustbaj · Nov 23, 2012

Yeah unless you know alot about server side and what your doing I would go with "tiny xp" or something like that. Windows is more common and easier to get tutorials when it comes to doing stuff like that..

Plan9 · Nov 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by mustbaj

Yeah unless you know alot about server side and what your doing I would go with "tiny xp" or something like that. Windows is more common and easier to get tutorials when it comes to doing stuff like that..

Running Linux file servers are massively common and there's plenty of tutorials for that too.

@OP: It might be worth looking into FreeNAS and Openfiler. Both are free "off the shelf" solutions that do exactly what you want. So you may find them even easier than Windows to administrate.

StayFrosty · Nov 23, 2012

I'm pretty sure there's a lightweight Linux flavor out there made specifically for this, but I'm not really someone you should ask.

Just my 2 cents.

dude120 · Nov 23, 2012

I'm running a computer with very similar specs with a gig of DDR2 Ram and a 160 GB hard drive on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64bit and it's a little slow sometimes, but most of the time it's very easy to use and works quite well. You don't need anything very powerful for a seedbox and/or file server. That being said there are better distros you could use.

Plan9 · Nov 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude120

I'm running a computer with very similar specs with a gig of DDR2 Ram and a 160 GB hard drive on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64bit and it's a little slow sometimes, but most of the time it's very easy to use and works quite well. You don't need anything very powerful for a seedbox and/or file server. That being said there are better distros you could use.

You'd probably be better off with a 32bit OS in that instance.

Also, have a look into Openfiller.

CiBi · Nov 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by StayFrosty

I'm pretty sure there's a lightweight Linux flavor out there made specifically for this, but I'm not really someone you should ask.

Just my 2 cents.

I also think rammstein is awesome

ON-TOPIC:

Thx all for the help, if I go for a linux distro I want it to be small and fast otherwise I might aswell use Windows Server

Plan9 · Nov 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by CiBi

I also think rammstein is awesome

ON-TOPIC:
Thx all for the help, if I go for a linux distro I want it to be small and fast otherwise I might aswell use Windows Server

give Openfiller and FreeNAS a try first. They're "out of the box" solutions for setting up a home NAS (which is what you're essentially doing).

CiBi · Nov 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plan9

give Openfiller and FreeNAS a try first. They're "out of the box" solutions for setting up a home NAS (which is what you're essentially doing).

thank you, i will

Which OS for home (torrent-/file-) server (very old hardware!)

CiBi

DizZz

CiBi

DizZz

Plan9

CiBi

DizZz

Plan9

mustbaj

Plan9

StayFrosty

dude120

Plan9

CiBi

Plan9

CiBi

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