Laptop as server?

Hi guys,

I have a laptop I just replaced lying around. Its pretty decent in terms of spec but because the charger is acting the maggot it needs to be stationary (defeating the purpose of it being a "lap" top. Off the top of my head it's got 500GB hard drive, 2GB of ram and is running Win7 ultimate in its stride.

I was thinking a good use for this would be as a source code/media server. I have no experience with servers so I don't know if this is the right usage for this laptop. As for OS's I have access to Linux or Win Server 08 (never used either)

So do you think it would make a good server and if so which os should I run on it?

Would this be for personal use? If so, I'd take the oportunity to familiarize myself with another OS (linux), get a Samba server started, maybe Apache if you want it as a Web server. Create some simple asp/php pages to allow you to contact and use it via a browser etc.

Personal use yes, I was edging toward a windows based server given that my experience and coding is all .net

Given the amount of RAM, etc in the laptop a Windows based server would probably slow the machine down considerably because of the juice Windows programs tend to use.

My recommended distribution, Fedora. And Slackware only if you are highly experienced.

Yep, Fedora or Redhat I'd go for. You could put Ubuntu as well, but that'd be my 3rd option.

I love how many different Linux distros there are... all of them are crap so what does it matter which one you choose :) If you linux lovers want to argue about that statement, send me a PM and lets not clutter up this thread with the eleventy-billionth Windows vs Linux debate on the internet.

2 GB of RAM is plenty to run a Windows server - we have several customers at work that have servers with that much RAM that are doing a hell of a lot more than what you will use it for and have been running without performance problems for months/years.

My first question though is - why do you want to use a server OS? Just out of curiosity? or have you got some purpose for it? There's no point running a server OS and just using it like a normal desktop really, though you can change the thread time slice duration so that the UI is more responsive but then you are really just trying to turn a server into more of a workstation, so IMO may as well just use a normal workstation OS.

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Originally Posted by chris128

My first question though is - why do you want to use a server OS? Just out of curiosity? or have you got some purpose for it? There's no point running a server OS and just using it like a normal desktop really, though you can change the thread time slice duration so that the UI is more responsive but then you are really just trying to turn a server into more of a workstation, so IMO may as well just use a normal workstation OS.

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I was thinking a good use for this would be as a source code/media server. I have no experience with servers so I don't know if this is the right usage for this laptop. As for OS's I have access to Linux or Win Server 08 (never used either)

Come on wrightzer read the thread :)

I did read the full thread Mcdonnellzer, what makes you think I havent?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "the right usage for a laptop" - no its not its intended usage, but it will work if that is what you are asking.

sure you did.... IM WATCHING YOU

It is causing some issues with the power supply. Il work on that first and then look at loading Win Server on it.

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Originally Posted by DeanMc

Hi guys,

I have a laptop I just replaced lying around. Its pretty decent in terms of spec but because the charger is acting the maggot it needs to be stationary (defeating the purpose of it being a "lap" top. Off the top of my head it's got 500GB hard drive, 2GB of ram and is running Win7 ultimate in its stride.

I was thinking a good use for this would be as a source code/media server. I have no experience with servers so I don't know if this is the right usage for this laptop. As for OS's I have access to Linux or Win Server 08 (never used either)

So do you think it would make a good server and if so which os should I run on it?

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I run windows server 2008 r2 on my laptop and I love. Get 2 more GB of RAM though. You will be happy you did and it will run like a champ. :bigyello:

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Originally Posted by chris128

If you linux lovers want to argue about that statement, send me a PM and lets not clutter up this thread with the eleventy-billionth Windows vs Linux debate on the internet.

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Why bring it up then? A poor workman blames his tools. :rolleyes:

You could run either Linux or Windows, depending on what you want to do. If you use Linux, you'll have the benefit of being able to remove the things you don't want (such as GUIs, mail tools, network servers, etc.), but it will be a steeper learning curve.

Have a look at this tutorial which allows you to turn a Linux box into a media server: http://www.tuxradar.com/content/how-...x-media-server

A laptop might work as a light-duty server. However the core components, fans, hard drives, etc. are not meant to run under sustained load. I'd expect a laptop used very extensively to end its own life fairly quickly. Probably due to overheating and bearing wear in fans and drives.

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Originally Posted by dilettante

A laptop might work as a light-duty server. However the core components, fans, hard drives, etc. are not meant to run under sustained load. I'd expect a laptop used very extensively to end its own life fairly quickly. Probably due to overheating and bearing wear in fans and drives.

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Yes, that is true! It is a pity that no one has figured out (at least to my knowledge) how to put hardware and powerful as pc hardware in a laptop and still be able to run it like a pc.