Hardware configuration of Redhat LINUX 9.0

[Dave Geiger]

Hi Guys,

I am planning to start work on a LINUX box with REDHAT LINUX 9.0 . So I would like to know what kind of Hardware configuration box, if I buy would be a good fit.As this is the first time I am about to start on LINUX I would also appreciate if some one could let me know if there are any study materials and installation guide.

Thanks
Dave

[Matthew_50]

you can collect the system information using following build-in os command.

# dmesg|grep -i cpu
# cat /proc/cpuinfo
# cat /proc/meminfo
# dmesg|grep -i memory
# cat /proc/scsi/scsi
# cat /proc/pci

# cat /proc/cpuinfo|grep "model name"
# cat /proc/meminfo|grep "MemTotal:"

or you can use 3rd party software to know the system hw configuration. such as
1. lshw, URL: http://ezix.sourceforge.net/software/lshw.html
2. cfg2html-linux, URL: http://www.cfg2html.com/

you can also study from books or redhat official provide documents at following
http://www.redhat.com/docs/

[Arunvijai_4]

If you are constraint of $$, you can go with a minimal config. My system runs RHL 9 in Celeron 633 Mhz, 256 MB RAM, 810 Chipset and 20 GB HDD.
If budget is not a problem, go with Xeon (dual) with 4 GB RAM. Also, www.redhat.com/docs is a good place to start.

-Arun

[Vitaly Karasik_1]

I'll suggest you to start with Fedora Core 4 or CentOS instead of very outdated RHL9.

See http://fedora.redhat.com and http://www.centos.org/

Rgds,
Vitaly

[Ivan Ferreira]

I agree with Vitaly Karasik, use Fedora 4, and if you want to run X applications, you should have a > 533 MHz (1GHz recommended) CPU, and 256 (512MB) RAM. 6 to 10 GB disks will be enough.

Now, you can create your own lab using virtual machines, instead of having various PC's. So, buy a good computer with at least 2.6 GHz and 1 GB RAM. And you can run 3 to 5 linux installations at the same time, creating your own network.

You cannot learn with Red Hat 9 because all the packages are oudated, and the configuration of the services may be different from now.

[Rick Garland]

Running of the virtual machines is a good idea. You may want to budget to have 2 or more systems (if they are not setup as virtual).

Networking is a very big aspect in learning any of the UN*X flavors. Do include your networking needs in any system that is planned to be commissioned in this role.

Fedora Core 4 is the latest and best choice. Available for download.

[Karsten Breivik_1 · Accepted solution]

Yup - use Fedora Linux (Which is the Open Source continuation of RedHat linux). RH9 IS outdated.

If you use RH9 you may run into several problems. The most notable since you are a newbe, there may be driver issues for the network card (if using some Intel/Compaq cards).

You propably also run into certificate issues for the up2date service (This is a command you should run before configuring the rest of the system to make sure it is patched)

These are fixed in the Fedora releases.

BTW, I was hacked twice last year, so I recommend downloading the Bastille tightening script to make your distro more secure. Attacks might be difficult to discover if you are not experienced, and are easily mistaken for other system problems.

As for HW, stay with the good brands. The exceptions are

- Creative CD drives - they may have detection problems.

- 3COM Office Connect switches which most propably will create a spanning tree problem in a few days if you have a heterogenous network. I have had about 10 of those and the same problem with them all. Have never seen this on any other switches.

- Linksys wireless bridges. I have tried 4 of those in a heterogenous network, and they all crash within five minutes when they are put into traffic. Never seen this on any other bridges or access points.

My network involves several machines with win 2k, xp pro, xp home, win 98, linux, mac os9, mac os X, printservers, firewalls, wireless access points, wireless bridges, managed and unmanaged switches of several kinds, etc.