Gary Stainburn
2018-Aug-31 14:29 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I wish to be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / processor in it. Can anyone recommend a Dist that would work on it?
Valeri Galtsev
2018-Aug-31 14:44 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
On 8/31/18 9:29 AM, Gary Stainburn wrote:> I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I wish to > be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / processor in > it. > > Can anyone recommend a Dist that would work on it?I would use FreeBSD (and I do use FreeBSD for bacula, now bareos backup server and storage hosts), it has really small "footprint", and it is quite widespread. Incidentally, I was using bacula for very long time, but recently I switched to bacula's fork: bareos. You may want to consider the differences before you finalized everything in stone. Valeri> _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >-- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Valeri Galtsev Sr System Administrator Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics University of Chicago Phone: 773-702-4247 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gary Stainburn
2018-Aug-31 14:52 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
On Friday 31 August 2018 15:44:53 Valeri Galtsev wrote:> > I would use FreeBSD (and I do use FreeBSD for bacula, now bareos backup > server and storage hosts), it has really small "footprint", and it is > quite widespread. > > Incidentally, I was using bacula for very long time, but recently I > switched to bacula's fork: bareos. You may want to consider the > differences before you finalized everything in stone. > > ValeriHi Valeri, Thanks for this. I haven't looked at FreeBSD since the 1990's or there abouts, but I'll give it a look. I'm also looking at lubuntu, but was hoping that there was a lcentos. We tend to like what we're used to. I'd be interested in your views on the differences between bacula and Bareos. I do have one Bareos storeage device but that's just in Bacula compat mode. Gary
Gary Stainburn wrote:> I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I > wish to be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / > processor in it. > > Can anyone recommend a Dist that would work on it?CentOS will work, but you might start with minimal (but make sure it includes networking). Please note that I installed CentOS 6, just a few months ago, on an HP Netbook from '09, and it runs perfectly well. mark "see? I didn't say anything about systemd...."
On Fri, 31 Aug 2018, mark wrote:> CentOS will work, but you might start with minimal (but make sure it > includes networking). > > Please note that I installed CentOS 6, just a few months ago, on an HP > Netbook from '09, and it runs perfectly well. > > mark "see? I didn't say anything about systemd...."CentOS 6 requires a PAE supporting CPU. Subject referenced Pentium CPU. Pentiums do not support PAE, and so would not run CentOS 6 without fun and games and an alternative kernel. I previously had a Dell X1 with a Pentium M CPU, which also didn't advertise PAE support, so couldn't run the stock CentOS 6 kernel, which made installation a little more interesting. If you're really stubborn, there are options for mashing it on anyway, but I'm not sure I'd bother. In my case I think I just ran anaconda within C5 to install C6 onto another LV, put a non-PAE kernel on, then booted into the C6 install. jh
Yves Bellefeuille
2018-Aug-31 15:47 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
Gary Stainburn <gary at ringways.co.uk> wrote:> I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I > wish to be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / > processor in it."Old Pentium" isn't very precise; the first Pentiums were in 1993! The least demanding distributions I know are Bodhi, https://www.bodhilinux.com/ , and, even less demanding, but wonky, SliTaz, http://www.slitaz.org/ . Among major distributions, I think that Debian would probably be the least demanding. -- Yves Bellefeuille <yan at storm.ca>
Gary Stainburn
2018-Aug-31 15:52 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
On Friday 31 August 2018 16:35:54 mark wrote:> Gary Stainburn wrote: > > I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I > > wish to be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / > > processor in it. > > > > Can anyone recommend a Dist that would work on it? > > CentOS will work, but you might start with minimal (but make sure it > includes networking). > > Please note that I installed CentOS 6, just a few months ago, on an HP > Netbook from '09, and it runs perfectly well. > > mark "see? I didn't say anything about systemd...."I did try Centos 6 32-bit because I believe that was what was on it last time. Unfortunately this time it refused to see the install image on the DVD I did also wonder about repositories and how long they'll be available for it. Gary
J Martin Rushton
2018-Aug-31 16:42 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
On 31/08/18 16:47, Yves Bellefeuille wrote:> Gary Stainburn <gary at ringways.co.uk> wrote:<snip>> "Old Pentium" isn't very precise; the first Pentiums were in 1993!They were the ones nicknamed "i586.01" see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug -- J Martin Rushton MBCS -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 836 bytes Desc: OpenPGP digital signature URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20180831/17808084/attachment-0001.sig>
> Am 31.08.2018 um 16:29 schrieb Gary Stainburn <gary at ringways.co.uk>: > > I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I wish to > be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / processor in > it.We use mysql as database backend for bacula, and it becomes heavy loaded, over time especially wenn restoring respectively generating filelists. So, not sure if such old CPU provides enough compute power ... -- LF
On Aug 31, 2018, at 8:29 AM, Gary Stainburn <gary at ringways.co.uk> wrote:> > I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I wish to > be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / processor in > it.You?re giving two very mixed signals here. ?Old Pentium,? as someone else said, can mean anything back to 1993, but ?4 TB drive? suggests something far newer than that. I ask because that affects the expected energy draw of the server. If it?s old, it could be 200 W or so. If you?re using ?old? rather loosely, then it could be down in the double digits. Here?s why it matters: https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/energy-cost-calculator.html At 12 pence per kWh ? typical for power in some places in your country, based on your TLD ? it?s going to cost you about 1 pound per watt consumed if it runs all day every day. If it draws 35 W, that?s ?35/yr. If it draws 200 W, that?s ?200/yr. If the cost is high enough, then it?s probably cheaper to buy a new energy-efficient server, which then lets you buy something that will run any Linux distro you want.
Valeri Galtsev
2018-Aug-31 17:40 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
On 8/31/18 12:09 PM, Leon Fauster via CentOS wrote:> >> Am 31.08.2018 um 16:29 schrieb Gary Stainburn <gary at ringways.co.uk>: >> >> I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I wish to >> be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / processor in >> it. > > We use mysql as database backend for bacula, and it becomes heavy loaded, > over time especially wenn restoring respectively generating filelists. So, > not sure if such old CPU provides enough compute power ... >This is important for the machine hosting director. If database is hosted on different machine even that shouldn't be awfully loaded in my opinion. As far as the box hosting storage daemon is concerned, that dosn't need much of resources (like CPU or RAM - unless one uses NFS which I wouldn't), the only things to pay attention for that box would be network connection capacity and/or filesystem speed, whichever becomes a bottleneck. I hope, this helps. Valeri> -- > LF > > > _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >-- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Valeri Galtsev Sr System Administrator Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics University of Chicago Phone: 773-702-4247 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Warren Young wrote:> On Aug 31, 2018, at 8:29 AM, Gary Stainburn <gary at ringways.co.uk> wrote: > >> >> I've got a very small footprint rack server with a 4TB drive in that I >> wish to be a Bacula storeage device. However, it's got an old board / >> processor in it. > > You?re giving two very mixed signals here. > > ?Old Pentium,? as someone else said, can mean anything back to 1993, but > ?4 TB drive? suggests something far newer than that.Good point. If it recognizes a 4TB drive, then it has to have a controller card from around '10 or newer. I don't know that an "old Pentium" can address that. Don't they also call 686's Pentiums? mark
Nicolas Kovacs
2018-Aug-31 19:41 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
Le 31/08/2018 ? 16:29, Gary Stainburn a ?crit?:> Can anyone recommend a Dist that would work on it?I'd say whatever bone-headed distro you're comfortable with. Personally, I'd use 32-bit Slackware 14.2 without even giving it a second thought. Cheers, Niki -- Microlinux - Solutions informatiques durables 7, place de l'?glise - 30730 Montpezat Site : https://www.microlinux.fr Blog : https://blog.microlinux.fr Mail : info at microlinux.fr T?l. : 04 66 63 10 32
My recommendation, take it for what its worth: 32-bit distros to me are a short lived proposition IMO. Example: I'm running Centos 6, 32-bit version. I recently ran into an issue where a package (clamav) started using a 64-bit library for decompression of files. End result, end of scanning for email viruses as this lib won't run on 32-bit AND, the lib hasn't been updated for 32-bits in 6 years. Forced to move to Centos 7 to get 64-bit libs. Centos 6 is still a viable supported OS until end of 2019 or 2020. So, ditch the box and get something that runs 64-bit..Your time will be better spent!!! Jay> Le 31/08/2018 ?? 16:29, Gary Stainburn a ??crit??: >> Can anyone recommend a Dist that would work on it? > > I'd say whatever bone-headed distro you're comfortable with. > > Personally, I'd use 32-bit Slackware 14.2 without even giving it a > second thought. > > Cheers, > > Niki > > -- > Microlinux - Solutions informatiques durables > 7, place de l'??glise - 30730 Montpezat > Site : https://www.microlinux.fr > Blog : https://blog.microlinux.fr > Mail : info at microlinux.fr > T??l. : 04 66 63 10 32 > _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >
Gary Stainburn
2018-Sep-03 08:13 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
On Friday 31 August 2018 18:09:13 Leon Fauster via CentOS wrote:> We use mysql as database backend for bacula, and it becomes heavy loaded, > over time especially wenn restoring respectively generating filelists. So, > not sure if such old CPU provides enough compute power ...This isn't the director, it's just a remote storeage device. All it has to do is talk network and HDD. Why is why I've retained it as it's a 1U half depth rack server and fits into my already overcrowded cabinet.
Gary Stainburn
2018-Sep-03 08:30 UTC
[CentOS] OT: Linux recommendations for old Pentium PC
On Friday 31 August 2018 18:20:20 Warren Young wrote:> You?re giving two very mixed signals here. > > ?Old Pentium,? as someone else said, can mean anything back to 1993, but ?4 > TB drive? suggests something far newer than that. > > I ask because that affects the expected energy draw of the server. If it?s > old, it could be 200 W or so. If you?re using ?old? rather loosely, then > it could be down in the double digits. > > Here?s why it matters: > > https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/energy-cost-calculator.html > > At 12 pence per kWh ? typical for power in some places in your country, > based on your TLD ? it?s going to cost you about 1 pound per watt consumed > if it runs all day every day. If it draws 35 W, that?s ?35/yr. If it > draws 200 W, that?s ?200/yr.Hi Warren, I had considered power consumption but only with regard that it is a small footprint system, both physically and in terms of processing power etc. I had not considered the lack of energy efficiency. The server has a MSI MS-9628 board with a Pentium M processor, and the one modern 4TB HDD. There is one tiny fan in the PSU and another tiny processor fan on the CPU. From this I (possibly wrongly) assumed power consumption would be low. It used to have 2 x 1.5TB drivers with software RAID until that died. I am still in the process of installing lubuntu so I don't know how effective it will be. I had considered putting Centos6 32-bit back on, but has been said elsewhere that's very near EOL. Having said that, some of my (soon to be replaced) SAMBA boxes are still runnning F9.