so i built a server

why?

i like researching computer parts, building a system in my mind, purchasing everything, and putting it all together
i like quiet computers
i’ve been a fan of the small shuttle micro-atx systems since i first saw them in fry’s
i’ve thought about converting my second bedroom into an office and outfitting it with some more powerful desktop computers
i thought it would be nice to have a machine whose destiny i controlled so i could play with some new things, like cvs.
i kept hearing that people (we were interviewing) had servers at home for developing personal projects and experimenting with new software
in california, looking at dean edwards website again, i saw the no-ip label and read that his webserver was running in his kitchen!
i stumbled upon the mini-itx site again
i wanted a project
i bumped into nolan (linux aficionado/hacker and friend from resnet/spencer dorm) on campus the other day
i didn’t want to spend a lot of money, and i didn’t want to pay for a machine that has windows on it if i was going to use linux

parts

case: black casetronic c134
motherboard: via epia me6000 fanless mini-itx
memory: 256MB pc2100 (ultra low profile)
hard drive: 20GB 2.5″ seagate 5400rpm
optical drive: teac slimline laptop cdrom (plus slimline cd to ide adapter)
monitor: borrowed from jane
keyboard/mouse/ethernet cable: i had

cost

$470 + $30 shipping (3 day select)

os

nolan suggested debian. the feeling i got from debian was that it would be hard. i felt the pull of redhat. but i was unfamiliar with all the fedora core stuff. and i didn’t want a froo-froo end user system. i wanted to build a server. so i read through the installation document to refresh my memory and decided to go for it.

assembly

last wednesday i ordered the parts. monday they arrived and later that night jane and i roughly assembled them. i discovered later that i had to replace a heat sink under the cdrom drive in order to get the case back together. last night i popped in the debian cd (woody-i386-1.iso) i had burned and let it rip. the installation went smoother than i expected. took about an hour, then i got apache, mysql, and php installed and fiddled with the hardware to get the case together properly. which took a few more hours.