What should I do with a desktop that is currently not in use?

Already have dvr so I don't see the point in MythTV or etc. It's liable to have some hardware break down sooner than later.

I'm interested in playing around with some securitization and/or pen testing. Anyone know of any good/free packages to start with? I'm going to try to position myself towards identity/asset management consulting engagements within my new job so I figured something like this would be a good experience?

I don't have any knowledge past the basics as far as computer languages/programming goes. What I do have is a few weeks with a fairly blank schedule and a willingness to learn

[Edited on August 3, 2011 at 11:21 AM. Reason : .]

8/3/2011 11:20:13 AM

let it store excess porn

8/3/2011 11:30:08 AM

Install VMWare ESXi & assuming the system is powerful enough you can run a couple different instances of various operation systems to learn new things. Set up a web server, email server, etc.

I used to have an old desktop that I ran OpenFiler on. StarWind has a new, free storage OS as well if you are interested in using the system for networked storage.

8/3/2011 11:48:57 AM

^What he said.

Learn ye some ESX!

8/3/2011 9:05:48 PM

Run a gaming server for TWW.

8/3/2011 9:10:06 PM

^^Will consider...I've played with VMWare some in the past and can setup web/e-mail servers etc.

^Should have asked me a few years ago when I was #2 at a server hosting company


Really wanna practice breaking in

[Edited on August 3, 2011 at 11:30 PM. Reason : without sounding like Negative Nancy or Picky Peter ]

8/3/2011 11:25:37 PM

Instead of starting a new thread, I'll just piggyback off this one.

I've also got a spare machine that I'm looking to build into a VM box for learning purposes. Is VMWare the standard for internal use by most companies? I was considering the different options, and I figured ESX or Hyper-V would be the standard for MS shops, and Xen or Virtuozzo for LAMP shops.

Looking at it from a sysadmin perspective, which one should I install and focus on first?

8/4/2011 3:18:15 PM

^ vmware definitely seems to be the standard for corporate/enterprise use.

if you really want to learn, i'd recommend doing more than one hypervisor. by working with multiple hypervisors i think you learn about how the technology works in general rather than how its implemented by one specific vendor.

8/5/2011 12:05:26 PM

vmware is the standard now, but they are soon to be dethroned. their model is fucked and they know this, that's why vcloud director supports other hypervisors. as hypervisors become commoditized, no one is going to pay for them. KVM, xen source, and esxi are the ones i'd spend my time with.

8/5/2011 12:10:45 PM

^^ I'm definitely going to build up a grasp of all the different flavors. I'm just wanting to focus on the most marketable/in demand systems first. So far I've only worked directly with VMware and OpenVZ/Virtuozzo. I'm only familiar with Hyper-V and Xen from an end-user perspective. I do know about (and have experienced) the strengths and weaknesses of each system though.

Seems like vSphere is the favorite. I'll brush up on that first. Thanks for the feedback!

8/6/2011 1:48:19 PM