So I asked people and got myself a free computer that was dusting in someone garage.
This is a macbook pro with:
16GB of RAM!
2.6ghz quad core intel i7
500 GB ssd.
Screen is nice so it is bit sad for a server and also no Ethernet port.
They said that the battery is not working, I have been charging it and it seems fine (this computer is way better than the old XPS dell laptop that I had for like 8-9 years before buying a new one recently).
I will probably put some Linux on it any distro that I should avoid? By habit I was going for Debian/Ubuntu.
Since It has no Ethernet port I may need to use an usb to ethernet adapter. I have never used one are they good?
Since I want to use it as a “server” what should I do to “protect it”?
You might not use it every day, but don’t underestimate the value of a neatly integrated display! I remember IBM racks coming with an integrated ThinkPad just for KVM purposes.
So your server also has an integrated UPS, too. What a catch!
I have some old HP Elitedesk 800 G5’s from work that were destined for recycling. They are tiny and don’t take up a lot of space. I have 3, possibly a 4th soon. I’m thinking of putting some new HDD in them and playing around with proxmox clustering. I’m currently not self hosting anything but thought these could be a good start.
I will probably put some Linux on it any distro that I should avoid? By habit I was going for Debian/Ubuntu.
When installing an OS on bare metal, I would always choose a distro I am comfortable with over going with some other wild recommendation. At the end of the day, every mainstream Linux distro will likely run the software you want to. It might be easier or more difficult to get certain software running depending on your choice, but those are questions to evaluate after you know what your requirements are.
Since It has no Ethernet port I may need to use an usb to ethernet adapter. I have never used one are they good?
Probably? I haven’t used one in the context of Linux before, so your guess is as good as mine. You may want to see if there are any particular network chipsets that aren’t as well supported under Linux, but I can’t offer any specific suggestions.
Since I want to use it as a “server” what should I do to “protect it”?
Your question is a bit ambiguous, so without any context, it’s difficult to answer. Assuming that you’re asking from an InfoSec perspective however, my best recommendation to you for your first server is:
Don’t put it on the internet.
With your first home server, you’re likely going to be trying out a lot of software on it. You may want to play around with learning how to host web sites, or perhaps manage a media collection. Maybe turn it into a file server. All good options! However, especially in today’s landscape with LLMs rapidly amplifying the security threat compared to even a few months ago, the last thing you need is to invite those kinds of attacks into your home. Additionally, hosting services publicly from home might also run against your ISP user agreement, so you’d want to make sure you’re above board there. A “cheap” VPS hosted by DigitalOcean, Hetzner, et al would be a place to learn the ropes of hosting services to the public.
I want to try p2p cluster of compute (https://future.p2p.futureverse.org/), they will require ssh and probably more doing it on a local network is 100% the right first step.
Yes I read about how painful ISP are in the US (it was not an issue in France since I was part of an ISP that was an non-profit that was helping on that …), my understanding is that it is “tolerate” at best. It seems that they particularly targets web site. I will try to learn more.
I spend my last 2 evening figuring out how to install the correct module for the WIFI card at least it works now
