“Build a Cheap MacMP3/AACServer” [Hack #30] covered how to create an awesome Mac-based digital music server. But what if you have a spare PC or a Mac that is too old to run OS X? For the old Mac, check out “Run iTunes on an Old Mac” [Hack #29]. Otherwise, your best option is to look at creating a Linux music server for your iTunes music collection. That’s right, with an old machine you have lying around, and the best open source operating system out there, you too can easily build a jammin’ music server. To make your jukebox complete, you can route your music to your stereo with AirPort Express and AirTunes.

Hardware If you need to go out and buy a computer, I recommend a cheap PC. It doesn’t need to be the latest and greatest, because Linux can perform very well on modest hardware. Here are the PC music server specifications:
• A Pentium II or AMD K6-III processor and 128 MB of RAM (so, a system manufactured in around 1999) should be fine. More speed and memory will hurt nothing but your pocket.
• A CD-ROM drive to run the Linux installer CDs.
• A monitor, at least temporarily, for server installation and configuration.
• A network card.
• A large hard disk.
My friend just bought a fast 120-GB hard drive at Best Buy
for $100. By the time you read this, there will no doubt be
much larger drives available at that price.

For networking, assume a Linksys, D-Link, or similar router that does automatic DHCP IP assignments. For Linux, Debian is a great choice. Debian takes care of package management; you need only run the update command. How do you acquire this gem? At http://www.debian.org, you can choose to order the CDs or download and burn them yourself.

If you have an old Macintosh desktop that can’t handle Mac OS X (even with XPostFacto [Hack #23]), you can give Linux for PowerPC a shot. The distribution to get right now is Yellow Dog Linux (http://www.yellowdoglinux.com). You can download or order the CDs from the Yellow Dog folks. Make sure you install the apt package with Yellow Dog so you can follow the configuration instructions for Samba or NFS, later in this hack.

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