From owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Aug 29 10:14:10 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9622116A45A for ; Mon, 29 Aug 2005 10:14:10 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from arusan@gmx.net) Received: from mail.gmx.net (imap.gmx.net [213.165.64.20]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with SMTP id C821C43D49 for ; Mon, 29 Aug 2005 10:14:09 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from arusan@gmx.net) Received: (qmail invoked by alias); 29 Aug 2005 10:14:07 -0000 Received: from unknown (EHLO maximus) [85.186.64.88] by mail.gmx.net (mp006) with SMTP; 29 Aug 2005 12:14:07 +0200 X-Authenticated: #7967892 Message-ID: <000101c5ac82$66f25290$b47ba8c0@maximus> From: "ANdrei" To: Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 12:38:21 +0300 Organization: Intellicon MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2527 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2527 X-Y-GMX-Trusted: 0 Subject: building an older server X-BeenThere: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion of FreeBSD hardware List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 10:14:10 -0000 hi. I need some basic advice from people using a bit older hardware, as I want to build a fairly simple server with FreeBSD. sorry if these prove to be stupid or trivial questions, but as it's old hardware I thought people might be using this (or used it) and can give some useful advice about how real-life is nowadays. Most online resources are with older software.... Main purpose will be hosting some websites, mailserver, fileserver, mysql with not too heavy load, on a 1MBps connection. Now it is physically impossible to get a network cable there, so I need 802.11g, which leads me to using only FreeBSD 5.x or 6.x. I got my card working under 5.x using ndisulator, with WEP 64bit (128bit doesn't seem to work, or I don't get the idea how). I have to choose between TrendNet and D-Link cards using TI chipsets (probably the same, afaik), and I tested the TrendNet successfully as mentioned. Who has experience with 6.x, can PSK be used, as WEP is not the best alternative for a server, is it? And if yes, should I expect other issues with the 6.x, as it's still beta... I would also need a basic management tool for my wifi, is there anything out there? And if I should go for 6.x, what branch should I go for (sorry, I'm totally new to 6.x, maybe this question is stupid :) It's not a production server, but I don't want it to fail too often, either... The router supports PSK, and the server will be probably in the DMZ or set up as a "Virtual PC" (seems to be a fancy name for a NAT :) and with port forwarding, as I only need some ports (I have to decide if I will go for the router hardware security or for ipfw) second: I will be using an older motherboard, ABIT BP6 with two celerons 400MHz (suits my needs), who can point me on how to use the full functionality of the onboard IDE RAID. It's a HighPoint HPT366, do I have any tools for it, driver is ok and supported? Any issues? I could go for a SIL3112 SATA, but this is just a waste of hardware considering the overall performance of the end-system, so I'd rather use the onboard if there are no big issues. Do I even have to recompile for support for this controller, or can I install directly to it? Oh, and I guess the dual processor config on this mobo is fully supported, right? Anybody knowing a good tutorial on how to get the most out of this old hardware? I'll probably go with the max of RAM, so I'd like to compile a fast kernel also (I know how to do that, only asking if there are some special options for these old procs, I never actually worked with dual proc that old :) last, do you think using a normal older SCSI controller (lets say Adaptec AHA-2940 S76 Ultra-SCSI, or smtg else, I have a few lying around) with some 2GB Quantums can be a faster solution? can I do software RAID or smtg with them, as I have a few of these disks, but the controllers are none RAID controllers. I'm only concerned for speed and security on one slice/partition, and 2-4GB would be enough for it, so RAID 10 with 4 disks would work... tks, ANdrei --- The problem with our world is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?