http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/oldhardwarenewtrick Questions tagged with 'oldhardwarenewtrick' at Ask MetaFilter. Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:12:47 -0800 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:12:47 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://ask.metafilter.com/72981/Two%2Dold%2DCPUs%2Dvs%2Done%2Dfast%2Done I have two old pc's and two things to do with them, but I don't know which machine is best suited for which task. I want to make two things: a file server, and an active directory server running Windows Server 2008 (beta, I want to try it out). <br> <br> The file server will have a 2TB raid 5 array made of 4 500GB sata drives and a hardware raid card I have yet to buy. Mostly it's going to be serving about 100gb worth of small files (music) and a growing collection of large files (SD tv, dvd isos, and if feasible HD media as well). The AD server will probably not do a lot aside from being an AD server, though in the future it may also act as a terminal server for an old Wyse thin client that I will <s>steal from work after they upgrade</s> legitimately acquire.<br> <br> The two machines I have available are ancient, but serviceable. One is a dual 500mhz Celeron on an <a href="http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=603">Abit PB6</a> and the other is an Athlon XP 2000+ on an ECS <a href="http://www.ocworkbench.com/2002/ecs/k7s5aguide/ABOUT%20THE%20K7S5A%20BOARD.htm">K7S5A</a>. Other hardware depends on what I can pull out of my junk pile, but probably I can max out memory for both machines. They'll both run headless and will be connected to a GbE managed switch. <br> <br> So, what's the best machine for what, and why? tag:ask.metafilter.com,2007:site.72981 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:12:47 -0800 AD file oldhardwarenewtrick resolved server tracert