Linux Hardware Configuration Suggestions

[David]

Folks,

I see a lot of specs for gamers. I'm more interested in setting up a
Linux server for development work. I'm interested in using high quality
components, but only those that make sense with Linux.

I'm looking at the latest AM2+ motherboards from ASUS,
the ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi AM2+, 10,000RPM SATA
(West Digital) disk for the OS.

I don't need a $300 graphics card since I won't be able to use most of
the functionality from Linux (or at least this used to be the case).

Suggestions for CD/DVD drives are welcome.

I used a SuperMicro SC-750A tower case for my last system.
Is there any consensus on high quality quiet cases? There seem to
be thousands of them. I don't need flashy blinking fans, etc.

I'd love to see some sample configurations for Linux/Solaris/BSD Unix

David

[bug]

3D support is pretty strong in the Linux world these days. Both nvidia and ATI seem to be taking it seriously and providing real (and current) drivers. I wouldn't worry about the ability to use the card.

That being said, is this a server at which you will work locally? A better video card may help if you're going to do graphics programming, but you're right about the card overall.

I would strongly suggest that you go with a core2quad processor. Compiling will be lightning fast and the extra cores will help with creating, testing (and running) multithreaded code.

Don't forget to set -j3 in your make options! It will tell the compiler (or at least gcc) to use four parallel processes (I think..)

It would be smart to use a raid array for your data (likely /home) partition. The onboard raid controller on most motherboards should be enough unless you're doing something that's really "mission critical" and the server will be hit hard all the time.

I hope that this post is helpful.. I don't know all that much about specific hardware, but I do know quite a bit about Linux. I can tell you that it's a lot less of a hassle to get most devices to work (they "just work") than in Windows (which requires the download and installation of drivers).