Due to a race in Lincoln I'm forced to stay in for the first half of the day, which is annoying.
However, it allows me to crack on with a project that's been on the back-burner for far too long. You may recall me mentioning my mini-itx hardware that I had a bit of trouble obtaining. In the end it did arrive - and it'll be the basis for today's antics.
In a similar fashion to Pinky, I've followed the naming scheme and titled this project Dinky. It'll be a ubuntu server for getting to grips with Linux servers. I'll have a pop at serving a few web pages on it, along with trying out the many firewall features within Linux. I originally opted for DSL on Dinky, but after getting it to run successfully on a Compact Flash II card, I found it to be too basic for my needs. Don't get me wrong, that's the intentions of Damn Small Linux, but it is too Damn Small for me. I may revisit it in the near future if I find it may prove a viable solution.
So ubuntu it is. I will also be installing the desktop version onto Red19 to give me an alternative to Vista. Ubuntu isn't alien to me as I've had it dual-booting alongside Windows XP in the past and I dabbled with Suse a few years prior to that too. But to call myself a Linux n00b is fairly appropriate - as my bash skills are pretty dire.
The main reason for opting to install the server edition on Dinky is to provide me with an easy-to-use server distro, to allow me to understand the ins-and-outs a little better/easier. There is one slight problem though - do you opt for the Long-Term-Support 6.06 or the more recent 6.10? Seeing as Digg is full of articles on ubuntu I've decided to use 6.10 for both Dinky and Red19.
That's the distro and version sorted, but how about 64-bit? OK. Red19 is 64-bit and has been running Vista Ultimate 64-bit for almost a month now, quite happily.
It's now that I've hit a slight snag. You see, Vista doesn't seem to support the burning of .iso's to CD/DVD straight out of the box. It managed to burn it for me, but as a file, not as an image. Luckily I've still got XP with Nero 6 on Pinky, sitting next to me - with which I've successfully burnt the server distro already. The desktop .iso is winging its way to me at 470 kB/sec from Kent's mirrors.
Once I've finished this first part in a short series, I'll head out to the garage and pick the various pieces of hardware that I need to build Dinky up:
- Via EPIA 5000 mini-itx board
- 256MB Kingston PC133 (+ another possible 256MB of Samsung)
- 60w mini-PSU + external brick
- 20GB Maxtor 3.5" HDD
- Maplin project case
- 21" CRT for testing, along with a MS Mouse/KB
I'll let you know how it all goes with a further instalment. If you're really lucky I'll post some pics too, but a full project log will be appearing on the bit-tech forums sometime soon.
Let me know if you've had any experience with either mini-itx hardware or ubuntu itself!