Lightweight alternatives to a win2003/IIS/Exchange setup

s3kemo · 29th July 2008, 3:31 PM

Firstly let me say by lightweight, I mean installed on a P2-level system with ~64-128MB RAM.

I'd like to play with some Linux stuff because I'm useless at it, and I get a kick out of this sort of thing. Ideally it'll be put on an old system with the aforementioned specs made from bits in my spares box and if it's good enough, I'll replace my win2003/IIS/Exchange box.

NB: this is for home use, just dicking about, but I have a fully functional domain name hosting my emails and website. The only mailbox is for me, and the website is more a placeholder, so the server is rarely under much stress... if at all.

I just had a glance at Debian's minimum requirements (Debian was mentioned in a thread on the first page of this section), and they are ~1GHz CPU and 64-256MB RAM... which is a bit much. Can something like DSL (Damn Small Linux) get the job done? I only ask because I've had a quick play with that distro and it was pretty cool, and had a tiny hard drive footprint.

Much thanks for any help. The amount of distros is a bit confusing for someone uneducated in this sort of thing.

ucosty · 29th July 2008, 3:40 PM

I don't think you'll have any trouble running Debian on that system. The system requirements make odd assumptions about what you'll be running. Debian and Damn Small Linux would be running the same kernel and drivers, so basically there is no difference. I would, IMHO, go for Debian just because you get apt-get.

TheAvatar · 29th July 2008, 3:54 PM

I used to have Clarkconnect running on an AMD K6/2 300mhz with about 128mb of ram, was doing mail, webserver and routing my net connection. It was fine, ran great and stable. Best uptime I had was around 300 days till one of my housemates kicked the power out

For mail does it need to act like exchange? If not then there are plenty of pop/imap/smtp servers out there. I was running postfix for smtp and Dovecot for pop/imap.

If you want a quick easy solution you could look in to distro's like clarkconnect that have pretty much what you want "out of the box". Or you could go with a very minimal install of whatever distro takes your fancy and build it up. I am sure you will be fine with that kind of system specs. IIRC I even ran a few game dedicated servers on the K6 and it was still fine

resonator · 29th July 2008, 4:11 PM

+1 for Debian. I guess you could also go for one of the BSDs too.

s3kemo · 29th July 2008, 4:54 PM

Well it seems system requirements aren't really a problem - good. I don't like the idea of my P4 2.8 whirring away, spending most of its life twiddling its thumbs waiting for something to happen. It's a waste of hardware and electricity. Noisy bastard too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ucosty

I don't think you'll have any trouble running Debian on that system. The system requirements make odd assumptions about what you'll be running. Debian and Damn Small Linux would be running the same kernel and drivers, so basically there is no difference. I would, IMHO, go for Debian just because you get apt-get.

apt-get? Will have to google wtf that even is

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAvatar

I used to have Clarkconnect running on an AMD K6/2 300mhz with about 128mb of ram, was doing mail, webserver and routing my net connection. It was fine, ran great and stable. Best uptime I had was around 300 days till one of my housemates kicked the power out

For mail does it need to act like exchange? If not then there are plenty of pop/imap/smtp servers out there. I was running postfix for smtp and Dovecot for pop/imap.

If you want a quick easy solution you could look in to distro's like clarkconnect that have pretty much what you want "out of the box". Or you could go with a very minimal install of whatever distro takes your fancy and build it up. I am sure you will be fine with that kind of system specs. IIRC I even ran a few game dedicated servers on the K6 and it was still fine

It doesn't have to be managed in such a pretty manner like Exchange System Manager, but as long as I can connect to it with Outlook (or any other client for that matter) then that's all I'd really need. A web interface for having a peek at my emails while I'm at work would be handy too, now that I think of it.

Will google ClarkConnect and see what it's like. I guess if it all had a pretty GUI I can use, it'd be harder for me to fuck it up and probably easier for me to adapt too. I assume I can use VNC or something to administer it remotely? I don't plan on having a monitor or keyboard setup for it (except for initial install, of course).

Quote:

Originally Posted by resonator

+1 for Debian. I guess you could also go for one of the BSDs too.

Noted. Thanks.

ucosty · 29th July 2008, 5:02 PM

Apt-get is the automated software/package manager that lets you install software from repositories without having to worry about dependencies.

With it you can install software easily, like this single command is all it takes to install postfix and all it's relevant dependencies.

Code:

sudo apt-get install postfix

ACA:Sleeper · 29th July 2008, 8:51 PM

+1 for debian based, as a Linux noob, I found the package management great. I even installed the GUI frontend and just did searches with the Synaptic Package Manager to find what I wanted to install.

s3kemo · 29th July 2008, 11:09 PM

Sounds like just what I need.

Thanks guys

f3n1x · 30th July 2008, 5:23 PM

My suggestions..

debian or ubuntu server

postfix (smtpd)
courier, cyrus or dovecot (imap

, pop

, and thier ssl variants)
squirrelmail or roundcube (webmail)

I'd also recommend that if your going to have a 24/7 linux machine running you set your modem up in bridge mode and have linux do the pppoe and nat.

You'll need a firewall, and you can use either native iptables or something a little more newbie friendly like shorewall.

And you will also want a caching dns server and http proxy for snappy browsing. I recommend bind9 (must be >9.4.2) and squid.

Once this is in place the internet should be much more stable and good bit faster.

Crinos · 30th July 2008, 6:05 PM

I'm currently running my mail on:

OS: Centos 5.2
SMTP: postfix
IMAP: dovecot
Webmail: squirrelmail
Web server: apache
Firewall(iptables front-end): shorewall

Works like a charm. I've got sieve enabled with dovecot for server-side filtering, and a ton of Squirrelmail plugins to make the webmail interface 99% as friendly as an email client(normally Thunderbird, but any old IMAP client is fine). Apache running with SSL only, and same with dovecot, so it's all encrypted.

Really painless and fast mail server setup, definitely don't need a GUI... it's mostly(if not all) in CentOS packages, so a breeze to install really.

CentOS or Ubuntu will be equally as good to be honest, it's only CentOS in this case because everything else around it is CentOS too. At home, I'd use Ubuntu Server

Quote:

Originally Posted by f3n1x

And you will also want a caching dns server and http proxy for snappy browsing. I recommend bind9 (must be >9.4.2) and squid.

Squid in transparent mode would be good, but for a home network, dnsmasq is much more straightforward than bind.

phrosty-boi · 30th July 2008, 7:09 PM

suse sles 9 or 10 may install and run on it

install apache for your IIS equivalent

install postfix for your exchange

samba will do your file sharing

i'm in the process of setting up something like this for a client at work, except using opensuse instead and vmware

Crinos · 31st July 2008, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phrosty-boi

install postfix for your exchange

I hope you realise that Postfix is not a drop in replacement for Exchange... it's an MTA. It lets you send email... and that's about it.

You also need to consider access protocols(IMAP/POP), storage(Maildir/database), authentication(LDAP/PAM/database), calendaring, local delivery, filtering, quotaing, webmail... and integration of all of the above, before it's even approaching the functionality of Exchange...

Jadlak · 31st July 2008, 10:50 AM

seriously... just get clarkeconnect and tick the boxes of the bits that you want. unless you actually will enjoy fiddling and learning.

Kermalius · 31st July 2008, 1:05 PM

Or instead of recommending things blindly we could ask the OP what he actually uses exchange and IIS for.

If it's only as an MTA & for static HTML pages, then yes any of the above will work. If it's for something more, then there are other things to consider.

f3n1x · 31st July 2008, 5:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crinos

Squid in transparent mode would be good, but for a home network, dnsmasq is much more straightforward than bind.

I would also agree with that, but didn't want to recommend it as i dont run it and im not sure if it has udp source port randomisation fix.

And bind really isn't that hard.. is it?

29th July 2008, 3:31 PM	#1
s3kemo (Taking a Break) Join Date: May 2003 Location: in a house Posts: 5,929	Lightweight alternatives to a win2003/IIS/Exchange setup Firstly let me say by lightweight, I mean installed on a P2-level system with ~64-128MB RAM. I'd like to play with some Linux stuff because I'm useless at it, and I get a kick out of this sort of thing. Ideally it'll be put on an old system with the aforementioned specs made from bits in my spares box and if it's good enough, I'll replace my win2003/IIS/Exchange box. NB: this is for home use, just dicking about, but I have a fully functional domain name hosting my emails and website. The only mailbox is for me, and the website is more a placeholder, so the server is rarely under much stress... if at all. I just had a glance at Debian's minimum requirements (Debian was mentioned in a thread on the first page of this section), and they are ~1GHz CPU and 64-256MB RAM... which is a bit much. Can something like DSL (Damn Small Linux) get the job done? I only ask because I've had a quick play with that distro and it was pretty cool, and had a tiny hard drive footprint. Much thanks for any help. The amount of distros is a bit confusing for someone uneducated in this sort of thing.

29th July 2008, 5:02 PM	#6
ucosty Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW Posts: 244	Apt-get is the automated software/package manager that lets you install software from repositories without having to worry about dependencies. With it you can install software easily, like this single command is all it takes to install postfix and all it's relevant dependencies. Code: sudo apt-get install postfix

30th July 2008, 5:23 PM	#9
f3n1x Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Armadale, Melbourne Posts: 1,650	My suggestions.. debian or ubuntu server postfix (smtpd) courier, cyrus or dovecot (imap , pop , and thier ssl variants) squirrelmail or roundcube (webmail) I'd also recommend that if your going to have a 24/7 linux machine running you set your modem up in bridge mode and have linux do the pppoe and nat. You'll need a firewall, and you can use either native iptables or something a little more newbie friendly like shorewall. And you will also want a caching dns server and http proxy for snappy browsing. I recommend bind9 (must be >9.4.2) and squid. Once this is in place the internet should be much more stable and good bit faster. __________________ f3n.org\|systems admin, graphics & foss software Canon Eos 40D. Canon 50mm f1.8. Tamron SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF). Sigma EF 500 DG Super ETTL Flash(Broken! :/)

29th July 2008, 3:40 PM	#2
ucosty Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW Posts: 244	I don't think you'll have any trouble running Debian on that system. The system requirements make odd assumptions about what you'll be running. Debian and Damn Small Linux would be running the same kernel and drivers, so basically there is no difference. I would, IMHO, go for Debian just because you get apt-get.

29th July 2008, 3:54 PM	#3
TheAvatar Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canberra Posts: 783	I used to have Clarkconnect running on an AMD K6/2 300mhz with about 128mb of ram, was doing mail, webserver and routing my net connection. It was fine, ran great and stable. Best uptime I had was around 300 days till one of my housemates kicked the power out For mail does it need to act like exchange? If not then there are plenty of pop/imap/smtp servers out there. I was running postfix for smtp and Dovecot for pop/imap. If you want a quick easy solution you could look in to distro's like clarkconnect that have pretty much what you want "out of the box". Or you could go with a very minimal install of whatever distro takes your fancy and build it up. I am sure you will be fine with that kind of system specs. IIRC I even ran a few game dedicated servers on the K6 and it was still fine

29th July 2008, 4:11 PM	#4
resonator Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 142	+1 for Debian. I guess you could also go for one of the BSDs too.

29th July 2008, 8:51 PM	#7
ACA:Sleeper Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Melbourne's SE Suburbs Posts: 424	+1 for debian based, as a Linux noob, I found the package management great. I even installed the GUI frontend and just did searches with the Synaptic Package Manager to find what I wanted to install.

29th July 2008, 11:09 PM	#8
s3kemo (Taking a Break) Join Date: May 2003 Location: in a house Posts: 5,929	Sounds like just what I need. Thanks guys

30th July 2008, 7:09 PM	#11
phrosty-boi Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Melbourne - Gatso capital Posts: 896	suse sles 9 or 10 may install and run on it install apache for your IIS equivalent install postfix for your exchange samba will do your file sharing i'm in the process of setting up something like this for a client at work, except using opensuse instead and vmware

31st July 2008, 10:50 AM	#13
Jadlak Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Brisbane, 4116 Posts: 88	seriously... just get clarkeconnect and tick the boxes of the bits that you want. unless you actually will enjoy fiddling and learning.

31st July 2008, 1:05 PM	#14
Kermalius Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 873	Or instead of recommending things blindly we could ask the OP what he actually uses exchange and IIS for. If it's only as an MTA & for static HTML pages, then yes any of the above will work. If it's for something more, then there are other things to consider.