Requesting advice on a Linux Distro for old server that's going to be used as desktop
by Falcon2426 from LinuxQuestions.org on (#4ZS3Y)
I was given an old server and would like to convert it to a personal computer at low cost. Something to learn and have fun with. My skill level is beginner and I'm enjoying learning about hardware / software. So Linux came to mind, and I've been reading about it for the past couple of days. I downloaded a copy of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS booted from USB to try (but my pointer was invisible so I didn't play around with it much.)
I will post the hardware specs below, but I am looking for advice on a Linux distro that would work well with it and is user-friendly. Also, I'm looking for a recommendation on a graphics card so I can get some decent resolution and have more than just the VGA output on the server motherboard. Here are the specs:
Intel S5520HC MB / Single Intel Xeon 5645 processor
Three 8 GB DDR2 memory sticks
One 256 GB SSD connected by onboard SATA
Intel hardware RAID controller RS2BL040 with four 4 TB Western Digital hard drives (currently with a 2 TB virtual drive in RAID 10)
I have no necessity for RAID, nor do I really need 16 TB of storage, but it's cool to have.
I was told that there was a hardware issue with the machine, and so I took it to my local Microcenter and had a diagnostic test run. They indicated that one of the hard drives in the RAID may have failed, but they did not seem very definitive. The system boots just fine (into Windows Server 2008 R2, which I believe is housed on the SSD) and I've been unable to detect any hardware issue with the hard drives, although my acumen to do so is probably quite low. I do not see any diagnostics in the RAID BIOS.
I did notice when the system boots, I get a sequence of 3 short beeps, which i understand to indicate a memory issue; however, I ran Memtest86 last night through 1 and a half passes, with no errors detected.
Thanks for your time and advice.
I will post the hardware specs below, but I am looking for advice on a Linux distro that would work well with it and is user-friendly. Also, I'm looking for a recommendation on a graphics card so I can get some decent resolution and have more than just the VGA output on the server motherboard. Here are the specs:
Intel S5520HC MB / Single Intel Xeon 5645 processor
Three 8 GB DDR2 memory sticks
One 256 GB SSD connected by onboard SATA
Intel hardware RAID controller RS2BL040 with four 4 TB Western Digital hard drives (currently with a 2 TB virtual drive in RAID 10)
I have no necessity for RAID, nor do I really need 16 TB of storage, but it's cool to have.
I was told that there was a hardware issue with the machine, and so I took it to my local Microcenter and had a diagnostic test run. They indicated that one of the hard drives in the RAID may have failed, but they did not seem very definitive. The system boots just fine (into Windows Server 2008 R2, which I believe is housed on the SSD) and I've been unable to detect any hardware issue with the hard drives, although my acumen to do so is probably quite low. I do not see any diagnostics in the RAID BIOS.
I did notice when the system boots, I get a sequence of 3 short beeps, which i understand to indicate a memory issue; however, I ran Memtest86 last night through 1 and a half passes, with no errors detected.
Thanks for your time and advice.