[ubuntu-us-mn] Building a Linux machine

[Brian Jenkins]

There should be no problems with building your own machine. In fact, I
would say that you stand a better chance at having full hardware
support in Linux if you *DO* build your own.  Buying from the stores
(Best Buy, Wal-mart, et. al.) is risky because a lot of these
companies seem to have their own version of the hardware installed.
Buying Pre-built also gives you much less control over the hardware
that is pre-installed, and you may tend to experience issues.

In addition to Nathan's rules, I will add this: ALWAYS research your
hardware to ensure it is compatible with Linux.  Sometimes you don't
have to look any further than the NewEgg.com reviews - a lot of Linux
(esp. Ubuntu) users post their reviews regarding that hardware and its
functionality.  Other times, a bit of googleing may be necessary to
determine hardware compatibility. Especially pay attention to commonly
problematic hardware, such as: wireless adapters, printers, and gfx
cards - these tend to have more complex interfaces and can thusly be
harder to implement drivers for.

--Brian Jenkins

On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 9:19 AM, Joshua Ellis<paintballjosh at gmail.com> wrote:
> I agree with Nathan's rules of thumb completely. When I built my server
> from the ground up, the most attractive option to me was also the least
> expensive. This Intel board gave me four 64-bit logical cores, on-board
> gigabit, low power consumption, and everything supported out of the box
> for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS:
>
> http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/D945GCLF/D945GCLF-overview.htm
>
> Take a look and see if it matches your needs. It's provided me with the
> most enjoyable Ubuntu server experience!
>
> Good luck,
> Josh
>
> Nathan MWF wrote:
>> My general rules-of-thumbs for low-end servers:
>>
>> # Desktop hardware will be supported as long as it is mainstream and was released one cycle ago or more (6 months).
>>
>> # Realtek network and audio chipsets are always supported, as the company is over 90% Linux desktops.
>>
>> # Don't pay extra for Mhz; pay for cores, memory bandwidth, and cache.
>>
>> # All AMD CPUs have hardware VM support, affordable Intel CPUs do not have hardware VM support. If you want to run virtual machines, buy AMD (or spend a lot more).
>>
>> # At this time, Intel graphics are not working at 100% is some distributions. Particularly, friends have had trouble with Intel graphics in 8.10 and 9.04 (Ubuntu).  It is expected that Intel graphics will work well again in 9.10. (This may not matter for a server.)
>>
>> # For high speeds, you will want a RAID array and dual NICs. This requires a switch that supports channel bonding (link aggregation). RAID is a PITA, and/or expensive. I would not recommend this for a low-experience usr.
>>
>> Also, I like Gigabyte motherboards. They have large heatsinks and are thick, so they don't flex during install.
>>
>> Nathan MWF
>> Why don't you pass the time with a game of solitaire?
>>
>>
>> On Sunday 12 July 2009 12:29:43 Andrew Lynch wrote:
>>
>>> Dan,
>>>
>>> At work, we have mostly custom built workstations, and they call run Ubuntu
>>> with no driver issues. The issues usually come with the hardware themselves
>>> interacting properly. We've had issues with CD drives not being recognized
>>> by the motherboard, or issues with where the boot partition should go with
>>> multiple hard drives.
>>>
>>> Hope that helps!
>>>
>>> -Andy
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 12:25 PM, Daniel Bicknell <
>>> danielbicknell63 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> I'm just curious if anyone has built their own  Ubuntu Linux machine and
>>>> how
>>>> satisfied you were with the results?  When I first started using Ubuntu a
>>>> few years back, I did have some driver compatibility issues.  However, with
>>>> the most recent releases, I have no known issues.  But I'm wondering if
>>>> there is good driver support for these non-standard computers?
>>>>
>>>> Admittedly, this is only the second computer that I've built myself (and
>>>> the
>>>> first one was about 10 years ago).  I want to replace my aging home server
>>>> (about 9 years old - well past retirement age).  I'm looking at Biostar and
>>>> Gigabyte motherboards with an AMD Atholon X2 dual core processor.  I would
>>>> be relying on the Ethernet and Sound components built into the motherboard.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Any thoughts or suggestions are certainly appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Dan
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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