An old computer these days is no longer a completely useless system. In fact, although it might upgrade my main computer every couple of years, so usually take ten to fifteen years before completely removed from my home network and send it to that great LAN in the sky!
Here are ten twelve uses that I have discovered so that more "experienced" computer system!
And once you have read the article and decided which exciting project you want to make sure we know by voting in the poll!
Firewall / Router
This was the first he had to use an old computer. I grabbed an old 286, installed a couple of network cards, and the latest version of FreeScan and suddenly all the computers in my house had Internet access without having to keep my main system executing or having to buy an expensive router (at the time) dedicated / backup device.
Not to mention that I have learned a lot about Linux over of this process!
Here is a list of some Linux distributions and tools you can use to create a firewall / router in your home:
* FreeScan
* IPCOP
* Smoothwall
* Firestarter
* Coyote Linux Personal Firewall
* Shorewall / Shoreline
* Mason
* Vyatta
* Floppyfw
* Firehol
* Guarddog
* Turtle
* M0n0wall
* Endian
* PfSense
* LutelWall
* Fork
* ClarkConnect
* Devil Linux
* Sinux
* Kaladix
* SafeSquid
File Server
If you have been on Daily Cup of Tech before, you know my love by FreeNAS. With an old computer and a couple of hours of effort, can a nifty little file server available on the network.
There are other ways you can create a server file than FreeNAS. Here are some I found:
* FreeNAS
* Samba
* IFolder
* NASLite
* Openfiles
* CryptoBox
Print Server
My wife and I share a printer that used to be hosted on your computer. It was a real pain when your computer goes into sleep mode or shut it off her and I would lose my ability to print. I was able to turn an old computer into a print server that is always running and can now print, regardless of the status of my wife's computer.
Nicholas Fong has a great tutorial on creating this.
Fax Gateway
Yes, I know. Faxing is so 1985. However, many people and businesses still rely on this technology to keep your business running. With a little effort and some older computers, you can configure a HylaFAX server to manage and control all incoming faxes and outgoing calls. Also, you could save a few trees, because you are using less paper.
Web / FTP Server
With the advent of facilities LAMP server, it is relatively trivial for someone to create a web server. This gives you the ability to create their own websites in house before deploying the world or simply can be used as an intranet site to keep your busy family in touch.
Here are some tutorials on setting up a web server:
* Setting up a local web server on Debian Linux
* The Apache web server
* Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) LAMP Server Setup
* Quick Linux Server
SSH / SCP server
SSH and SCP provide a lot of very powerful abilities so you can remotely access your network and copy files securely. One of the best ways is to create a FreeNAS box, enable SSH and then connect to it using an SCP client such as WinSCP to transfer files or putty to access your network.
Anti-Spam Server
We all hate spam. So, use your old computer to get rid of it! Using SpamAssassin on a Linux machine, you can quickly stop the flood of incoming spam. I have also found a very good tutorial on the subject (sorry, but I had to Use Google's cache.).
Proxy Server
Most users have the same web pages they visit regularly. Every time I go to these sites site, you need to go and download all the files again. While this is not a terribly big issue if you have plenty of bandwidth and not being used much, can be a problem if you're a broadband user.
You may also be used to filter undesirable content.
Here are some tutorials on setting up a proxy server:
* Setting up a transparent proxy with Squid in three easy steps
* Minimal Linux Proxy
* 3proxy
Thin Client
I always thought that the next time I decide to upgrade all computers to all my family at home, instead of updating each system, buy a server, rather stout with lots of RAM and then create virtual machines for all. Then, you could use your original hardware and thinstation to give virtual access to your computer again!
You may also want to check out AnywhereTS to help with the installation.
Voice Mail Server
For me, voice mail has always been so passive. Just wait a bit in one place until I remember to verify that (which could be days later). A voice mail server would be a great tool!
One great advantage would be the possibility of having my voice mail by email to me. Another would be the ability to check that from my PC. VOCP System gives me all those skills and more!
Media Server
More people leave their CD players and DVD and heading for MP3 and AVI files. A media server is a great way to use that old box.
Here are some resources to get rockin '!
* Jinzora
* Firefly
* TVersity
* MediaTomb
* LIVE555
* MythTV
* Icecast
* Helix
* LinuxMCE
* Darwin Streaming Server
* GNUMP3d
Bittorrent Box
I put all my stuff BitTorrent in a separate box long ago. It seemed much more orderly and clean. For a good tutorial on how to do this, check out Nerdica.
techiepage
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Mikrotik Tacna Warzonegames 052-952230234 aioria2004_2004@hotmail.com
