Help setting up a server. Options

[heyo-captain-jac...]

So I've got this old PC, so old it came with Windows 2000. It currently has XP service pack 1 installed, but can barely run it. Right now it runs on my unused Mandriva Live CD, and performance is still pretty crappy on that.

So I figured, why not turn it into a server? It's got a 90gb hard drive, and a half gig of RAM. The processor is where it lacks performance. It's a single 1.3 GHZ Pentium 4.

I would like to find out:
1) What's the best light operating system to run a server on? (Be more descriptive than "Linux")
2) How could I maximize performance?


Also, is there anything else I would need to know?

Edit:

User interface makes no difference, I've used nearly all of them. As long as I'm not running on some GUIless software like MS-DOS, I'm happy.

[Daniel15]

I've got a Pentium 3 650Mhz with 512 MB RAM and 160 GB hard drive that I use for torrenting and other random stuff.
I'd recommend Debian Linux, I love it (I'm using it on a proper dedicated server in a data centre as well as my dedicated server (the P3)). Debian makes installing software easy (via its package management utilities), and upgrading is easy too (you can upgrade "in place" to a new Debian install, you don't need to burn a new CD or anything. As far as I know, CentOS and some other Linux distributions can't do this).

As long as I'm not running on some GUIless software like MS-DOS, I'm happy.

Most servers don't have a GUI running, it's all text-based. It's better to not run a GUI, and instead save the RAM for more important things like the actual server processes. If you must use a GUI, I'd suggest something light, like XFCE, and only run it when you need it (when you're not on the server, quit the GUI).

A server can be "headless" (no monitor or keyboard attached). You can admin a server via SSH, which is similar to a command prompt, except it's remote (ie. you can connect to the server from your desktop computer, via the network). Admining via SSH is quicker than using eg. VNC or something similar.

Hope this helps you :)

Edited: Rewrote without links.

Reason for edit: Please don't advertise. - Mike