Router + VM host

[lordemperor]

As a preface this is coming from someone who has just under $0 to spend on proper equipment but is nonetheless looking at a career in IT.

My skill level is such that if I'm pointed at a guide I can usually follow it successfully.

I have two PCs and up until now have been running a web server (CentOS) in a VM on my personal desktop. Recently I acquired an old junk machine and considered fulfilling one of my ideas.

I'd like it to function as both a router and virtual machine host (VirtualBox).

Router to provide a better firewall to my desktops and stop me from using so many concurrent IP addresses.

VM host to host my web server, planned mail server and potentially other services / experiments. This will also let me shut down my desktop when not in use, saving a lot of unnecessary electricity.

So the question I suppose is... where to begin?

What distro would make a good router while still providing a GUI (for configuing VMs)? I'm familiar with Ubuntu and CentOS and willing to learn. Considering it will do nothing else it can be fairly barebones.

I love router distros (Smoothwall <3), is there something I can install to provide web admin for things like firewall and DHCP?

I was considering just virtualizing the router, but then if there is a power failure and it fails to start for some reason while I am not there, my SO will harm me.

While it's true this seems unnecessarily complex, until the cost of real router + server hardware approaches $0 this is a fun alternative.

My plan is currently partially implimented, as I installed VirtualBox on the existing Windows XP and moved my server over there.

[b2bwild]

If you are willing to learn then Minimalistic Debian will do,
You can add any desktop environment on it. like gnome/xfce/fluxbox.

If you have Old Junk Machine for the job, rethink about running VM on it.
It wont matter if you run Web Server and Router on a one machine.