Put That Old Computer To Good Use

An old computer these days is no longer arelatively trivial for someone to create a web
completely useless system. In fact, even though Iserver. This will give you the ability to create your
might upgrade my main computer every coupleown websites in house before you distribute them
of years, I usually take ten to fifteen yearsto the world or you can simply use it as an
before I completely remove it from my homeintranet site to keep your busy family in touch.
network and send it to that great LAN in the sky!Here are a few tutorials on setting up a web
Here are ten twelve uses that I have discoveredserver:
for that more "experienced" computer system!* Setting up a local web server in Debian Linux
And once you have read through the article and* The Apache Web Server
decided which exciting project you want to do,* Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) LAMP Server Setup
make sure you let us know by voting in the poll!* Quick Linux Server
Firewall/RouterSSH/SCP Server
This was the very first use I had for an olderSSH and SCP provide you with a lot of very
computer. I grabbed an old 286, installed a couplepowerful abilities so that you can remotely access
of network cards, and the latest version ofyour network and copy files securely. One of the
FREESCO and suddenly every computer in mybest ways is to set up a FreeNAS box, enable
house had Internet access without having to keepSSH and then connect to it using an SCP client
my main system running or without having to buysuch as WinSCP to transfer files or PuTTY for
an expensive (at the time) dedicated routeraccessing your network.
firewall device.Anti-Spam Server
Not to mention that I learned a ton about LinuxWe all hate spam. So, use your old computer to
through this process!get rid of it! By using SpamAssassin on a Linux
Here is a list of some Linux distributions and toolsbox, you can quickly stem the flood of incoming
that you could use to create a firewall/router forspam. I have also found a really good tutorial on
your home:the subject (Sorry, I had to use the Google
* FREESCOcache.).
* IPCOPProxy Server
* SmoothwallMost users have the same webpages that they
* Firestartervisit on a regular basis. Each time that they go to
* Coyote Linux Personal Firewallthese websites, they need to go and download all
* Shorewall/Shorelineof the files again. While this is not a terribly big
* Masonissue if you have lots of bandwidth and it is not
* Vyattabeing used very much, it can become an issue if
* floppyfwyour are a high bandwidth user.
* FireHOLYou can also use it to filter out undesirable
* Guarddogcontent.
* TurtleHere are a few tutorials on setting up a proxy
* m0n0wallserver:
* Endian* Setup a transparent proxy with Squid in three
* pfSenseeasy steps
* LutelWall* Minimal Linux Proxy
* Zorp* 3Proxy
* ClarkConnectThin Client
* Devil LinuxI've always thought that the next time I decide
* Sinuxto upgrade all of the computers for my entire
* Kaladixfamily at home, rather than upgrading each
* SafeSquidsystem, buy a rather beefy server with lots of
File ServerRAM and then create virtual computers for
If you've been on Daily Cup of Tech before, youeveryone. Then, I could use their original hardware
will know my love for FreeNAS. With an oldand ThinStation to give them access to their new
computer and a couple of hours effort, you canvirtual computer!
have a nifty little file server available on yourYou may also want to check out AnywhereTS to
network.help with the setup.
There are other ways that you can create a fileVoice Mail Server
server other than FreeNAS. Here are some that IFor me, voice mail has always been so passive. It
found:just kinda waits in one place until I remember to
* FreeNAScheck it (which could be days later). A voice mail
* Sambaserver would be a great tool!
* iFolderOne great advantage would be the ability to have
* NASLitemy voice mail e-mailed to me. Another would be
* Openfilerthe ability to check it from my computer. The
* CryptoBoxVOCP System provides me with all of those
Print Serverabilities and more!
My wife and I share a printer that used to beMedia Server
hosted on her computer. It was a real pain whenMore people are going away from their CD and
her computer would go into sleep mode or sheDVD players and heading for MP3 and AVI files. A
would shut it off and I would lose my ability tomedia server is a great way to use that old box.
print. I was able to turn an old computer into aHere are some resources to get you rockin'!
print server that is always running and I can now* Jinzora
print regardless of the status of my wife's* Firefly
computer.* TVersity
Nicholas Fong has a great tutorial on setting this* MediaTomb
up.* LIVE555
Fax Gateway* MythTV
Yes, I know. Faxing is so 1985. But, a lot of* Icecast
people and companies still rely on this technology* Helix
to keep their business running. With a bit of effort* LinuxMCE
and some old computer hardware, you can set up* Darwin Streaming Server
a HylaFAX server to manage and control all of* GNUMP3D
your incoming and outgoing faxes. Plus, you couldBittorrent Box
save a few trees because you are using lessI put all of my bittorrent stuff on a separate box
paper.a long time ago. It just seemed much neater and
Web/FTP Servercleaner. For a good tutorial on how to do this,
With the advent of LAMP server installations, it ischeck out Nerdica.