LIFE: My unfinished work~!(setting up linux home server)

Actually, some people wondering why someone need a home server. As for me, but sometime when we caught on situation where the homeserver is the solution.. then you'll notice that Home Server is quite important nowadays. The digital era has hit Malaysia for about 2 years now where everyone is connected to the internet, and sharing a lot of stuffs.

why do we need a homeserver? have you ever confront with the situation below?

• You have 2 or more computers at home with files fragmented between them and multiple copies of multiple files (music/movies/docs) spread all over the place?
• You are a compulsive downloader and have accounts to multiple private trackers. Your primary beast machine runs 24X7 guzzling power and dissipating heat only to use like 0.1% of its processing capabilities while downloading
• You have often felt the need to gain access to some of the files at your home while visiting friends/colleagues. Like, ” Oh, I wish I could show you the pics I took in the last office party…If only I had remembered to carry them in my pen-drive”
• You are at office and someone is raving about a new album and you wish you could hear it the moment you hit home
• you are stuck in a traffic jam and realize you forgot to start that all important DivX to mp4 conversion for a bunch of videos

If you have confront with the situation, then a home server is a possible solution. You dont have to spend RM1000++ to build a good server at your house. Not with linux Operating system I think. So I'm doing an individual project to setup a server at my house which will serve me as a file server, webserver and ftp server(or maybe sftp/ssh).

So there is a lot of work I must plan and carefully observe as this is my first server which I made from scratch. And for the 1st step- I already bought some of the stuff:

• A pentium 4 processor 3.0Ghz
• SATA Hardisk 160GB
• DDR1 RAM 2 GB ( 1pc of 1GB and 2 pcs of 512MB) <-- currently planning to sell this things and buy DDR2 RAM.
• NIC (3 COM)
• Casing+power supply
• DVD-Writer (which is not needed on a server)

And all this stuff i bought for RM380/= which I made a deal to pay it two times. Thanks to Slamdunk for the cheap hardware. HAHA.. So all i need to do is find a motherboard which can support my proccessor and if possible support DDR1 as well, so that i wont have to buy a new DDR2(cause nowadays, board with DDR1 support is hard to find in the selling market)

So I'll update the progress as soon as I make some progress with the hardware.

I wonder what OS should I use for the server. I've been thinking some operating system which I have tried and learn. I need opinion on the OS to use:

• Ubuntu Linux
• Debian
  
• Crux
• OpenBSD
• FreeBSD
• and sorry no space for windows.
  

Which one is the most suitable? erm.. i wonder..

And this is the current progress and cost I have spend for the home server:

1. Item bought :

• Processor 3.0Ghz P4
• Sata Hardisk 160gb
• 2gb DDR1 RAM
• DVD writer
• Casing + PSU

2. Cost Spent:

• RM 200 + RM 180(on the next month)
  

3. OS to be used on server:

• Still thinking
  

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