Help me choose distro - File Server, Media Share

[Landshark]

I've never installed Linux before and have no idea which one to choose that might fit my following requirements.

I have a dedicated box (AMD Dual-Core 2.7ghz 4gig ram) that I currently have setup on Windows Vista 64-bit.

These are the needs of the server:

-File Server (it's running RAID-1 using 2x500gb SATA-2 HDD for backup)
---File server is being used as redundant backup of multiple PC's and laptops all of which are running windows vista OS.

-Media Server
--Currently using TVersity to stream media to multiple Xbox 360's
--Also streaming media to multiple Windows vista OS PC's and laptops

-Secure
--I want the server and RAID drives accessible only via username/password (needs to be accessible from windows vista OS)

-Remote Controllable
--I don't have a monitor permanently attached to this PC (no keyboard either), so I need a way to remote control this server. Again, it'll be a windows vista OS that needs to be able to remote control the linux server.


I believe those are the basic needs of the linux distro. I'm a big time noob to all the different options out there and was hoping to get more expert advice on which way I should go. Is there a single distro that would best fit all of my needs? Any other software/packages that would help me achieve the needs of the server?

I'd appreciate any input/advice/suggestions!

Thank you!

EDIT: I understand there are some regularly suggested distros (Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Debian, etc), but I have no idea what the difference is between them and if any of them have more specific tools for my needs than any of the others. A good question would be, why choose Ubuntu rather than OpenSUSE? Does one do something better than the other in regards to my server requirements?

[Landshark]

I ended up choosing Fedora after running across the distrowatch.com website (very helpful website!) and reading about all of the different types.

[coopstah13]

Fedora is a desktop OS, you should probably look into CentOS which is more geared toward workstations and servers. Also Ubuntu Server LTS is good as well.

[Landshark]

Thanks, Coopstah13.

I am downloaded both Fedora 11 (DVD) and CentOS (DVD). I'll try CentOS first and see if it'll work out for me. If not, then I'll move to Fedora (mostly because now I'm curious about it).

I guess there's always a possibility that I'll end up trying several before settling.

[daark.child]

Thanks, Coopstah13.

I am downloaded both Fedora 11 (DVD) and CentOS (DVD). I'll try CentOS first and see if it'll work out for me. If not, then I'll move to Fedora (mostly because now I'm curious about it).

I guess there's always a possibility that I'll end up trying several before settling.

You will find Fedora and CentOS to be similar although Fedora 11 is more current. CentOS 5 is a rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 which in turn is based on Fedora 6.

[meton_magis]

I would also highly recomend CentOS over the other options. Fedora is too bleading edge to be used as a server (it can be, and I've done it before, but when it comes to end of life sooner then CentOS, you'll start wishing you had gone with a long term release.

I have never used Ubuntu's server OS, but I'm not a fan of their desktop OS, so I've never had much incentive to try it. It could be good, I don't know.

[Landshark]

Well, I have problems right from the start, trying to install CentOS using a DVD.

I have about 30gb's unallocated on my HDD (windows vista is installed on the other 80gb).

When reboot and install from the DVD and after picking the languages I get this message saying:

"The partition table on device mapper/pdc_cjcgbidcbh (Linux device-mapper 476836 MB) was unreadable.

To create new partitions it must be initialized, causing the loss of ALL DATA on this drive."

It then asks if I want to initialize the drive.

I'm thinking maybe I have a corrupt DVD image, hopefully it's worth the re-download of the 5gb file.

[Landshark]

Well, I'm officially giving up on linux as a alternative to Windows.

First of all, my printer at home is not supported and simply does not work. After trying for hours I was able to get drivers installed for it, but it will never print a page or test page no matter what I do. I have posted up questions all over the internet and all advice leads me to a dead end.

Second, from what I understand there's no way for me to use windows RDP to connect to my linux pc, which is a MUST for me. I do not want to install VNC on all my client computers, it doesn't make practical sense for me to do so.

That's about as far as I got, I never tackled the RAID requirement (from my initial look my linux setup does not detect my RAID setup which is managed by the motherboard/bios. I didn't investigate this).

Oddly I was expecting a lot more out of Linux, easier to work with (I'm not afraid of the command prompt or terminal), but it looks like everything you want to get done needs a hack or setting change somewhere deep in the file system.

So, maybe I'll give linux a shot 10 years from now, who knows. I'm disappointed.

[daark.child]

Could it be that you were trying to do too much before you actually got to know the OS? What printer do you have? RDP is a proprietary protocol, so it does not work with non MS OSes as far as I'm aware. You could have used VNC or SSH with X forwarding on Linux.