brady4747 wrote:

Yes a p2 is fine and will give you much more
performance than the simple processors in some
of the network storage thingies out nowadays.

Main problem with the P2 is that it may not be very convenient
to have a decent mount of memory in that system, particularly
if you want to run the same OS you run on the PCs for simplicity.

There are several ready made linux installs that can whip it right
up for you, or get a debian netinst cd, use it, log in and type
'apt-get install openssh samba webmin' and you will be good to go

Not necessarily, particularly if you've never bothered
with other than the OS that runs on the PCs.

Oh, and put another smaller drive in besides your 300 gigger for the
OS so if you want to move it or switch os or something, no problem.

Makes more sense to use a small part of the main drive for that.