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Convert old computer to linux router/NAS

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Statik:
So, as the subject states, My goal is to turn an older computer I have at the house into a router AND network storage.

Yes I know I could accomplish the same thing with a router and one of the HDDs made for such a thing, but I would rather have the experience doing it myself.    Apparently that wasn't very clear initially.


My questions (for all intents and purposes consider me computer savvy, but new to linux):

I suppose, first off, is building a box with a bunch of NICs in it a good idea?  IIRC, I saw in a thread where someone asked something similar to what Im asking, they recommended two NICs and a switch, but I would rather make the box self contained (as having a box + switch would kind of defeat the purpose of building it in the first place).

I have googled this and come back with many guides on how to do one or the other, but not specifically one for both (I could be looking in the wrong places).  Some of the things I have read are for custom distros of linux with samba as an addon.  I also found someone pointing to eBox for accomplishing this.  Does anyone have any experience with any of these (or others) and have recommendations towards which distro to use?  (I'm not particularly concerned if doesnt have a GUI) .

Basically, can anyone point me to a guide and/or distro they have used for this purpose. 

Also, I don't think its possible, and not really a concern either way, but is it even possible to make a router box with wireless capabilities?  It doesn't seem like it would be possible (or at the very least, practical), given the limitations of PCI/X.

clockworkjames:
One thing I am going to just throw out there is as far as power consumption goes, even a really dumb old computer will have a stupidly high power draw compared to a router and it will be noisier.

If you are going with it long term I would suggest you think heavily about spending a buck a day to power your router.

bicostp:
Don't bother.

You can run 2 NICs and make a firewall, but it really won't be any better than a $50 off-the-shelf Netgear from Circuit City. (If you really want a high end router, you can probably pick up a used Cisco off eBay.) Running multiple NICs to make an Ethernet switch is ludicrous; you can get one of those for $20 and it will work faster and more reliably. And, as clockworkjames said, the power draw is going to be really high.

If you need more storage and want it accessible to multiple computers, either add hard drives to your main PC and share them over the network (Windows File Sharing or FTP), or put them in removable enclosures. You could do a DIY NAS box if you want (it's really simple once you get the server set up), but it's not something you'll want going 24/7.

clockworkjames:
Another thing is if you want to just make another device connect to the internet, put another NIC in your current PC and bridge it so they share the connection. Otherwise buy a router since it is the best option for many reasons.

Statik:
I clarified my post a bit.

Yes, I am fully aware of the power draw, I am fully aware of routers and switches (I actually already own one). 

Please read the post before commenting.

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