I have a spare PC which I'm considering putting to use. It is a Dell
Dimension L566cx, eight years old: Celeron 566 mHz, 192 MB RAM, 10 GB
HDD, CD/RW drive (no DVD drive), integrated NIC, USB ports are USB 1.0
only.
I have three questions about possible uses for my spare PC.
Two of the uses I'm considering involve headless operation of the PC (no
keyboard, monitor, or mouse). The PC reference manual shows all of the
BIOS options. There is no option to suppress "keyboard error". I thought
this would be a showstopper. I booted the PC with monitor only. A
"keyboard error" message was displayed, but the boot continued.
I don't want to spend much for additional parts for the spare PC.
Use 0: Spare PC:
Stand-alone spare. The PC runs Knoppix 5.1.1 Live CD.
Use 1: Router/Firewall:
Due to power consumption of this PC, I would use the PC as a router
only occasionally. I would use it for troubleshooting networking
problems, as a backup to the router portion of my Westell 6100 DSL
modem/router, and for learning more about routers and firewalls. I might
add a PCI internal DSL modem if I can find an inexpensive one. Required
additions include a second NIC and an ethernet crossover cable.
Q1: Given my specific hardware, is there a distro which would give me
greater flexibility and/or provide a more extensive learning experience
than specialized firewall/router distros like Ipcop and Smoothwall?
Use 2: Networked PC
Using an ethernet crossover cable, connect spare PC to my primary PC
to form a LAN. I don't need a LAN, but this could provide an opportunity
to learn more about networking and NFS. I don't have a second keyboard,
monitor, or mouse. I don't want to buy a KVM switch.
Q2: Is there a way to network my spare PC with my primary PC with the
spare PC being headless?
Q3: Is there a distro I could install on my spare PC that would allow me
to switch back and forth between Use 1 (router) and Use 2 (LAN) without
requiring Linux reinstallation every time?
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