Linux Needed: OS that can run with no HD

Hi Guys

I need your recommendations. I have an old laptop that I use to run a Teamspeak server on. However the disk is starting to make a lot of noise and it's getting a bit annoying as I sleep close to it but would like to run the TS server 24/7. What I'm looking for is an OS (presume it has to be some flavor of Linux) which I can boot of say a CD/DVD and which does not requirer a HD. As this machine will only run TS and maybe Ventrilo it does not matter that there is no "save" option.

I am by no means an expert in Linux so a dist that has nice instructions would be nice (otherwise I will bug you until I get it running )

Thanks

 

You want to have a Linux LiveCD with Teamspeak/Ventrillo.

Slax is modular, and has the teamspeak module

 

Cool I will have a good look at that one, although it looks like the Teamspeak module is the client not the server (not quite sure will give it a try).

 

Or you can build your own live cd? There are plenty of guides out there...

But, a CD rom drive is allways louder then a HD... so that won't fix your problem...

 

Does this mean that a LiveCD dist will keep reading from the CD? I would have thought that it would load what it needed into memory (ramdisk?) and then left the CD alone unless it needed to load something new?

 

How about running something like Puppy Linux from a USB thumb drive?

 

The laptop is a old thinkpad (can't remember what model, don't have it next to me atm), not sure it can boot from a USB stick though...

 

Not everything fits in the memory, therefor it will be reading at times...

USB drive will work tough (there are ways around not being able to boot from USB stick, google it)

 

See the Slax link Doug posted

 

I read somewhere that you can load slax to RAM fairly easily, the whole CD is uncompressed I believe and is 185MB, so you'll be needing ideally 512MB RAM, but 256MB is doable.

 

Have any of you guys tried to use Slax, I'm trying to start it up on my laptop but it's taking ages... is it normally this slow?

-->cpemma and Glider: Think I will try to get it to work off the CD first then start looking for a USB option, but if I can find an unused USB key somewhere I will use it for this

 

I use an old ThinkPad 770 as a wireless gateway, and have the same loud HDD problem. I had a thought (although haven't bothered implementing it yet) to use an IDE->CF adaptor and use a 2GB or so CF card to run Linux (or in this case OpenBSD).

Obviously it would need to be a Laptop 2.5" IDE->CF but I should think you can get them somewhere.

 

Might sound stupid but ...
Why dont you solve your problem by buying a new hd instead of bodge fixing it by running a live cd.?
Usbdrives and cf/mem cards have a small life and its not recomended that they are used as hd's and they will die very quickly.

 

That is actually incorrect... A friend of mine uses an IPCop router that runs on a CF disk, and it's been running for over 2 years.

 

Agreed, flash memory, even if used heavily will last quite a few years.

 

Its so cheap any way even if it does die its easily replaced, a 512mb is not much over a fiver and in a few years when it does die it'll be even cheaper.

 

I've been running my laptop with a Gentoo livecd for a few days now, as I'm waiting for my C2D parts from Germany. It works really well, and I do not have a hdd connected to the machine, as the power/motherboard of this laptop is quite heavily fcked up . Well, works fine for Gaim and Firefox, and it doesn't make lots of sound, as i think it loads most of the stuff in the RAM. I think you can atleast try the livecd method before you buy a new hdd or anything.

 

The issue with flash memory is the number of writes. Flash memory, by design, supports a limited number of writes. Its life will depend upon how many writes are made to it. Flash memory manufacturers have extended life by using complex algorithms that ensure an even write over the entire flash memory surface. Even with a large number of writes (due to linux log files) you can expect your flash memory to last around 3+ years. It will last longer, of course, if there are less writes. Three years is a long time in PC technology, so I would expect you'd want to upgrade your flash memory even before it reaches end of life. Therefore, while flash memory does have a much shorter life than traditional solid state memory (HDD), in practice there it is unlikely to be a constraint.

 

Or you can offload the writes to a ramdrive or an external fileserver. Hell you can always stop them all together /dev/null ***

 

LOL most people here answered AJB2K3's question for me before I got a chance Anyway the reasons are 3 fold. First: The goal is to make the machine quiet, so the fewer moving parts the better. Second: I can get a 1Gb USB stick for about £5 at ebuyer, I'm not saying a HD would be expensive this is just cheaper. Third: The challenge of it I know setting up Linux on a LiveCD may not seem like much of a challenge to all you penguin people, but I'm a windows guy, so Linux is always a challenge for me
Anyway have not had much time to play around with it. never got Slax to boot but managed to get Knoppix to boot (with a lot of cheatcodes). Will see if the cheatcodes also work under Slax as I quite liked their site/disto/module approach. I will let you know how I get on (may need some more help with all this penguin speak as well )