Looking for Linux distro with low system requirements

Need reliable uptime but low demands on resources

[MatthewHSE]

I've got an old computer, forget what the processor is but it must be a P2 around 400MHz. It's got 64MB RAM and a 4GB hard drive. I've heard there are flavors of Linux that will run reliably on a machine like that, but I know nothing about Linux and don't know which distribution to choose.

I'm going to be using this machine almost exclusively as a Squid proxy server. I doubt very much that a monitor will even be connected after I get everything set up. It will have nothing to do but run almost constantly and do whatever a proxy needs to do. Incidentally, it will only be running as a proxy for two other machines, which won't be being used very often.

So, given my available resources and my requirements, what would a good setup be? Ideally it will be very user-friendly, as this will be my first experience with Linux.

Thanks in advance,

Matthew

[Matt Probert]

ALL flavours of Linux will run quite happily on that computer. X-Windows might present problems, but if you're wanting to run server applications and just use command shells, no problems. Slackware is one of the smallest and tightest, but is not very novice-friendly.

In any event, remember to rebuild the Kernel minus the facilities you don't need for your hardware.

Matt

[mcavic]

In the installation, just be sure to uncheck everything you don't need. I think you don't need apache to run squid. And you probably don't want X11. 4 gigs and 64 megs are probably both a little low to run a full installation. But for what you're doing, it should fit. I like Fedora a lot.

Out of curiosity, why do you want to run squid? Security, access control, or caching?

Matt

[MatthewHSE]

Hi there, thanks for your reply.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I looked at Suse and it looked like 256MB was the minimum amount of RAM it required. Fedora Core 3 seems to require at least 192MB RAM. I don't doubt your word that all Linux distributions can run on a system like I have, but there's obviously something I'm not understanding here. Suse would be my first choice; what do I need to do to get started with it on this system since it doesn't technically have all the requirements they say I need?

[MatthewHSE]

Hi mcavic, we cross-posted so I'll answer your question separately. Basically, I've been told that Squid is the best option I have to be able to restrict Internet access from certain computers on a network. I want to allow access to only a whitelist of sites and block all other access. I could use some tricks with the HOSTS file (these are W2K machines) but the consensus seems to be that Squid on a Suse box is the way to go. So I figured I'd give it a try.

You mentioned that Fedora might be a good choice; might it be more suited to my needs than Suse would be? And with my system being so low-spec, am I going to get any kind of video display or GUI at all?

[mcavic]

Yes, squid is a good way to accomplish that.

On Fedora 3, I get about 50 megs RAM used with a full text-only boot, but 105 megs with X Windows.

It is a tight squeeze... the best way might be to try it. But 128-256 megs would be much nicer. The low memory could also degrade your Web performance, as the server would be low on disk cache, and it may need some swap space.

[MatthewHSE]

Okay - Fedora 3 it is! Hopefully I'll get to give it a try within the next week or so.

[encyclo]

Fedora Core 4 is out now, so go for the latest version if you want Fedora. Actually I wouldn't go for Fedora myself as the support for the distribution is rather short-lived. I would recommend Debian as the ideal Linux distro for your particular needs - you can personalize the installation and set it up with X-Windows and a lightweight window manager (I would suggest IceWM). For keeping things updated, you can automate it with a cron job or you can just connect to the machine via ssh and run the update via apt. Debian Sarge (which was released only a few weeks back) should have community support available for many years yet.

Another option if you are feeling a little more adventurous would be one of the *BSDs. NetBSD or FreeBSD are nice and fast, but harder to install for a Unix novice. OpenBSD is built with security in mind and is often used for firewalls, proxies and routers.

[mack]

Many Linux distros claim you need 256 meg of ran to run them properly, this is not because of linux but third party window managers like X and KDE. I have been able to get linux running with 32 meg ram.. Well walking maybee, not running.

Mack.

[MattyMoose]

I've always been partial to Slackware (slackware.com) due to its simplicity, reliability and low system requirements. It all depends on what you're comfortable with. If you can work without a super-integrated GUI, then try it out!

Another option might be FreeBSD.

Oh, I should mention that IIRC, Squid will need more RAM and disk space than that. The first time I set up a proxy server was with a similar confiuration, and I quickly burned it to the ground. See [squid-cache.org ]

YMMV