OS for possible router/firewall

[somekid007]

I'm fairly new here to pardon me if im not posting in the right forum

ok now that i figured out how to use my old rig as a linux/router box (thx Soul Harvester), i need to know what OS to use

the machine to be used is:
Socket 7 Intel Pentium 166 (non MMX)
ATL OEM-i HX mobo
32mb 72 pin EDO RAM
Sound Blaster 16 sound card
Diamond Media Stealth 64 vid card
Quantum Sirroco 2.5gb hard drive
USR Sportster 28.8kbps modem
floppy and Tatung 8x cd

i dont plan to upgrade except for adding a few NICs. i will ditto the modem since i have an ADSL line.

EDO RAM is extinct so i cant really add anymore, but i may (im using the word very generously here) be able to get 4 or 5 gb hard drive from a friend

so should i go with something like windows NT or 98se? or a linux distro like Red Hat or SuSE? i also come across a distro called Turbo Linux Server, anyone else heard of it?

Thanks in Advance

 

[Phantasm66]

Oh, plenty of operating systems could do the trick.

But you have to run those comfortably on the box - linux would certainly fit the bill then.

any linux would do you fine, but i recommened red hat or mandrake as being pretty easy to set up.

 

[Phantasm66]

Windows 2000 or XP would not run well on the box. NT would, but that is no longer getting security fixes made for it, really, support has been dropped and I think that it would turn into a security nightmare in the long run. I certainly don't fancy having to take an NT box under my wing these days - despite its NT name ("New Technology"), fact is its old technology now.

 

[Nodsu]

Uhhh.. I already said this in the other thread.

Try some special linux distros like Coyote floppy firewall. These are built and preconfigured for router/NAT/ICS.

Newest heavyweight distros like RedHat/SuSE/Mandrake will be too much bulk for this machine and purpose unless you want to do a carefully crafted custom install plus kernel recompile..