You do not need a very poweful Computer to run Linux. If you did a console only installation (without a GUI windows environment) a Pentium 100 with 32 MB of memory and 500 MB of hard drive space would be more than enough . Of course the more recent versions of Linux like Red Hat™ Enterprise 3 and SUSE Linux™ 9 would need a computer with more capabilities than a Pentium 1

Fundamentals

It is possible to run this course on Linux or in Windows - however when working in Windows you will have to install a Linux emulator. Matthew West created a Debian GNU/Linux image you can use with Bochs, an Open Source Emulator. We suggest you use this image and Bochs, since it also includes the sample files that Matthew West uses as examples and Exercises in the Fundamentlas course.

What this does is to create a virtual enviroment, that runs inside your current Operating System, which runs Debian GNU/Linux. Download and installation instructions can be found the section called “Setup of Linux Emulator for Fundamentals Course” here.

Because this emulated (virtual) machine needs to use the resources of the installed Operating System you need a faster computer to run it successfully. We recommend a Pentium 2 500 Mhz computer with 32 MB memory. If you already have Linux installed you do not need to use the simulator.

System Administration

For the System Administration course you need only one machine. The System Administration course begins by explaining how to install Debian. Run this course after you have completed and are familiar with the material covered in the Fundamentals course.

Networking

For the Networking courses, you would need to have two machines with Linux installed on them. Both machines should have a Network card installed. If you are using a machine that is already connected to a Local Area Network then you do not need a second machine.

Shell Scripting and Internals courses

You need to have a Linux distribution installed to take part in these courses