Re: really stupid question

Ken Palmer wrote:
> Hello!
> 
> I have been browsing the info about OpenBSD and I am of course
> intrigued. In the days of yore, I was a VAX operator (VMS 8), but I
> am otherwise unfamiliar with server systems. I have recently stumbled
> upon what I believe to be a gem of an old sever: a Proliant 1500 dual
> 350 mHz machine running Server 2003. This find has gotten me thinking
> I could do webhosting for a few bucks on the side and hopefully more
> someday. My question is how big is a typical installation and what
> are the general hardware requirements (momeory, hard drive space,
> etc)? Thank you very much.

If you want to get your feet wet with OpenBSD, here are the minimum 
specs I'd recommend for your _first system:_

100MHz Pentium (P-II anything is highly recommended)
32M RAM (64M recommended).
PCI accessories (i.e., network adapters.  Few people remember how to do 
ISA configuration anymore!)
6G of disk space.

(in other words, your dualie PII-350 box is probably fine).

OpenBSD will run on less system than that, but as I'd suggest that you 
plan on SEVERAL installs before you get a "good" one done (if nothing 
goes wrong, you didn't learn anything), you want a moderately brisk 
machine with enough RAM to keep it from being too painful.  Once you get 
the hang of it, 486/33 machines can be useful, though a bit trying on 
the patience for SSH usage...

That huge disk space is required for building from source -- 4G doesn't 
quite cut it anymore.  If that's not your concern (and on a 100MHz 
machine, it shouldn't be!), you can get away with 1G HD to start with.

Keep in mind a dual PII-350 will be out-run by almost everything more 
modern, and draw a lot of power in the process.  Yesterday's server is 
outrun by today's laptop...the "server" tag doesn't save it from 
obsolescence.

That being said...I do all my OpenBSD writing on an old Dell dual 
PII-300, 192M RAM, 40G HDs.  I do use a AMD XP2700+ as a very fancy 
terminal to that system, and to see what I wrote however...firefox, you 
see, takes everything you can give it...

As for "typical" system, there is no such thing.  I have a few P200 
machines I use, plus a P90 that's my DNS resolver, and a 486 class 
system works as a VERY basic firewall, and I sometimes wish my AMD 
XP2700+ was faster.  It all depends on what you are doing with it.

Nick.