So I went through the the storage unit a few years ago and fished out the old HP Compaq Presario. I was just getting into linux and stuff. I threw Arch at it (not really understanding what arch was), then lubuntu, and finally freenas. Freenas stuck for awhile but I used it less and less. It is now time to breath some more life into this thing.
Notes: Mobo: -Has 3 PCI slots and 1 AGP slot. I am not 100% sure if I can run GPU's through the PCI gen 1 slots but if I can that means I can use GPU's with more recent drivers. If anyone has info on this please leave a note. GPU: -That gpu has no drivers on repo's unless I rollback Xorg. Haven't tried doing that so I am considering exploring that. RAM: -That ram is brand new ram I got from Fry's Electronics. Storage: -80GB WD drive is at the end of its life space. Extremely loud and scorching hot. If anyone knows a good source for IDE drives please leave a note. Chasis: -I call it a death trap because of the sharp corners and because the build quality is lacking. I am looking for a case that fits mATX mobo and 4 drives, and also has a very small profile and minimalist look.
Plans: -File server for house as I do a lot of transferring of files at home. -Linux system that I just write papers on. Currently a student and a computer with limited capabilities can help with concentration at times. -Maybe something someone suggest!!
tl;dr: If you know a good source for "high capacity" IDE HDD's shout em out. If you know any nice minimalist mATX cases that are small, let me know. If you have any ides for this mobo/cpu(other than throwing it out), let me know.
Honestly I think you're better off getting something new (or less old). I don't think anyone makes ide disks anymore so the biggest you could find would probably 640gb but it would be used. You may be able to get a sata to ide adapter bit I'm not sure.
You can get pci graphics cards but they're pretty bad. I have one in my server, it was an ati something. Its not fast enough to run xfce without lag and only supports old resolutions. If you're going to stick with that board you'll want to use agp unless you only need the graphics card for the terminal.
Well I'm just doing this for fun and not planning on switching up too much. I looked around and found some HDD's on newegg. There are some more recent agp gpu's on amazon too so gonna research that a bit. For the chasis, looking at some of the newer cases that are low profile. I was a bit weary about usb 3.0 but decided to just use an adapter.
Suggestion to keep you focused. Not sure if this OS will run, but if it does, then you'll have access to a very powerful NAS that includes a word-processor. You could pull up the screen on any computer on the LAN as well, even a phone, so once install you don't necessary even need a graphics card.
That case looks quite nice. Very simple, very small. Will add to options.
Will definitely have a look at XPEnology, never heard of it but I see in the forums that I can run it in a virtual box. I like to test out OS's in VirtualBox before I burn a CD and find out I don't even know what I'm doing.
There is a certain sweet-spot in the technology world where when there is a fairly new product (nearly a year old) it costs 'x' amount and when there is an old product (about 15 years old and on) it costs similarly the same because of it's uniqueness.
That sweet spot is about a few years after debut (let's say 4-5), and I am suggesting you focus on used, and pick something up that's complete for around the same cost as the IDE drive you are intending to buy, which will be pricey as it's outdated and now "unique" and made to special order for servers.
The reason I say the above is because it would be worth it, in power savings alone (and headaches), to upgrade to somewhat newer technology for a couple hundred dollars
