I am currently hosting a server on a Windows XP machine, 32 bit, with a Pentium 4 3.00 ghz processor, and 4GB of RAM, 1GB dedicated to Minecraft server. This machine has no other use other than to run the server. I have about 6 people that will play on the server, not all at once because everyone has varying time ranges that they are on, but at any given time there may be 3 or 4 people on the server at a time. Is it worth me trying to figure out how to put Linux on this machine? I have read other posts stating Linux is the best way to run a server, but I guess my question is since I really don't have a clue, will I be able to find a version of Linux that will run on this 32bit machine effectively? Sorry, I really don't have a clue, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.I guess I should also add that I was in the middle of just deleting pretty much every program from my machine I could think of that would affect the Minecraft program, and the reason I am trying to even switch things up is that lately I have been receiving a Java runtime error. I am running Java 7 update 17. Again, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Yeah, we definitely kicked around that idea too, and believe me I know that thing is antiquated, we just figured that we could (cheaply) just make it work well enough for the small group to have fun.
There is no difference in what OS you use at all. Any posts saying otherwise are fanboying but for what it's worth, if you have no experience in linux, it would be best to not use linux.
That said, that system is not going to be powerful enough for more than 2 or so people total, and that may be stretching it a bit. This is of course assuming your internet can even handle a server in the first place, most consumer lines cannot.
The internet is 50+ down steady, and 10+ up steady. I have actually had 4 on the server playing fine for over an hour. The Java error didn't come until there was only one person left on the server, and that occurred about 30 mins after everyone else had finished playing for the day. I know the system is garbage, we were just trying to be cheap. I guess I'll just get another box and go from there. Say I wanted to have 10 people on, what would be the minimum requirements that you would suggest then?
That said, that system is not going to be powerful enough for more than 2 or so people total, and that may be stretching it a bit. This is of course assuming your internet can even handle a server in the first place, most consumer lines cannot.
http://www.speedtest.net/
Server rentals are very cheap.