Is there a way to...

[XeroLaw]

Is there a way I can turn my old computer into a load balancer, firewall, print server, secure backup storage, & a proxy? If anything, I would prefer a load balancer + firewall. So that I could load balance both upstream and downstream.

If there's no easy way to do that, could I do something like learn Linux and make a server out of it that could do all of the above and possibly more?

BTW, my old computer specs are something like:
500 MHz P3
384 MB RAM (PC100)
15 GB HDD (Think)
not sure what else. It was free and I never really use it... it's in pieces right now...

[bAdWaYz]

Learning linux would be a task in and of itself. The rest of the things you talk about can be done for the most part. The "load balancing would be kind of out of the question really but you sure could turn it into a neat firewall and have it be a backup storage device for sure. You could do those things with windows and add-on's but if you want an all in one linux based box you might like SmoothWall Express. It can be found HERE (http://www.smoothwall.org/) SmoothWall in a linux based OS subset meaning the OS is there and it is setup to primarily act as a firewall. You can buy "very cheap" at that SmoothWall Limited ed that will let you have a firewall/VPN gateway/QOS services "for limiting/routing bandwidth, and even rules for who and when users get bandwidth. All the advanced options you would expect from a high priced app for next to nothing. I don't work for SmoothWall or anything its just really good software for the price. I run SmoothWall on a box at my house. It sits in front of my router. That means I have two hardware firewalls on my network, talk about paranoid ehh. Anyhow I hope this info helps if you have more questions or comments feel free to post back with them.

[XeroLaw]

Ok, thanks for the input Bad. I know Linux would be hard to learn, but I'm almost to the point that I want to switch to linux and ditch windows. That being said I have a problem or two with XP that I may need some help with, but that's another topic (http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135606) for another time.

Is there any solution to load balancing besides a VERY expensive load balancing router?
What would I need to do for windows, what version of windows, and how much for extra add ons?
Since SmoothWall is Linux based, how would I tell if my current hardware will work with it?
If the Linux based OS is built just for the firewall, how would I also use it for backups?

Thanks for the link to SmoothWall. I already knew the sites, I just don't know anything about SmoothWall or SW Ltd. Ed. If I got SW Ltd. would I be able to use it as a storage space as well, or even a proxy? I just want something that I can store webpages on so I don't have to reload them every single day. The dial-up connection usually connects at 50.6K for me, but that's still extremely slow compared to what I'm use to. I've had cable/dsl for the past four or five years, and now that I moved in with my g/f it's good ole dial-up. IMO tho, the DSL I had sucked. My DSL was like 1-2Mbps and the cable was always 2.5-3 then an upgrade to 4-6.

Continuing on, how good is SW Ex./Ltd. compared to just a standard router? The router I own was a last minute (midnight or later) kind of thing that I picked up at Wal-Mart. It's a Linksys/Network Everywhere router, the model number is NR041. Review for it are mainly true though, it sucks and always overheats. I fixed that by putting a 9" fan over top of it to blow down on it. I know... janky. I don't care though, as of now I only use it to transfer files from one computer to the other.

Jw, but would my router and smoothwall have a conflict of any sort and would it slow down the connection much? I'm pretty sure that's all for now since someone came in to talk to me and I can't even remember half of what I typed. Once again thanks much bAdWaYz! :thumbsup: