[Tfug] Using a Laptop as a server

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Keith,

On 3/13/2013 12:30 PM, keith smith wrote:
> A number of years ago, maybe 10 years ago, TFUG was run on a laptop
> for a while.  I did not notice any difference.  It was during a time
> when the list was a little more active.

Processing dozens of SMTP requests PER DAY isn't very hard.  :>
I have a mailing list app that you can run on a *phone* (if you
wanted to pay for the data!)

> I was thinking of hosting several websites from my home office using
> my Cox business account.  I do not want all the extra heat of a
> mini-tower and have found laptops to produce much less heat.

Understood.  They address different application/usage domains.

> I've been looking at an i3 HP as a potential web server.  Of course
> it is not going to be as fast as a mini tower with faster drives,
> however I think it will beat shared hosting or even a lower priced
> VPS.  It probably will not compete with a dedicated or managed server,
> however I'm not sure I need that much power right now.  And if I do
 > need that much power that would be a blessing and I would make the
> move to a server in a data center.
>
> Any thought about using an HP i3 with 4G of RAM as a LAMP server?

The downside of a laptop is the issue of durability and
maintainability.  IME, they just aren't designed for long life.
And, aren't (as) easy to repair/replace (components) when they
*do* break.

E.g., will that laptop drive like spinning up and down repeatedly
24/7/365 as requests come in intermittently?  Or, will it prefer
spinning *constantly*?  Will you blank the screen to conserve
power (why have a screen on when it's just acting as a server)?
Will you need a second "private" network interface over which to
interact with it (management)?

You might, instead, consider something that is intended to run
*as* an "appliance".  Or, that can more easily be coaxed into
doing so!

E.g., I repurposed several X terminals as headless, diskless servers
to prototype my automation system, here.  They're not spactacular
performers (1GHz/1GB) but are sized appropriately for the needs
to which they are applied.  E.g., I have ten of them running as
a distributed system "under my bed" (currently) as they draw little
power and make *no* noise!

You might try PXE booting something (Raspberry Pi?) and either
serving up data from a CIFS/NFS share elsewhere on your
network *or*, depending on your needs, a memory based file system
(initialized just after the PXE boot).  So, in the absence of
a power outage (or crash), that external host from which *this*
server was booted need only be "up" for reboots.

Or, boot from a live CD.  If the "stuff" you are serving is reasonably
const, that could similarly reside on the CD.

<shrug>  Lots of options and lots of price points...