Debian Based System

The operating system I chose for the bridge was Debian.  I usually prefer CentOS based on stability and security but I have found that Debian is an excellent server based system as well.  You need to use a distro that you can install a very small footprint as you do not need much for a bridge.  And I was also using Mini-ITX  with an Atom processor that Debian in more liable to work with that CentOS.

Lesson 10 / Quiz

Burn yourself the first DVD and boot with a USB DVD on your system.  You will need to set the BIOS to boot to the DVD.  Once it is booted up hit enter and let the system begin to load.  Note the choice is the "Install" which gives you a basic install of the system.

You will go through language, keyboard, DHCP, Hostname, Time, etc. that are basic to set up.  You will then get to the partitioning where you will want to either use the whole disk or do a Manual install.  I like the manual install and then create these partitions:

/boot

/

/home

SWAP

If you want the system to do it that will work as well, I would choose the /home option so you can store things there if you need to.

You will then add root and a user with passwords and start installing the Base system.  When it finishes you want to make sure you have a network connection so it can install from the Internet and you do not need additional DVDs,

To get just a basic system that you need only install the Standard system...then you are set to start work!