Linux/Windows Network Design

[orange_]

ok, so heres the deal...

Im a 3rd year IT student and Ive been given the task of developing a Windows/Linux network.

The way it has to go is that the main server must be a Linux Distribution (of server variant) with a Windows XP client and a Linux Client (desktop variant)

my question is.... for performance, easy of use, managability (basically everything a lecturer would like to see to award an A+ ) which distribution should I use?

Ive been thinking along the lines of Debian Server and Linspire, mostly for originality, but because they are both great at their own thing. But then I thought about things like Fedora and SuSE because they are popular and might make it easier, or even Ubuntu.

So second question.... should I just stick with Linspire and Debian or go for popularity? and which one?

any help, suggestions etc. is already appreciated in advance

orange_

[orange_]

also any suggestions on software to use for authentication mechanism, database (MYSQL dosent have to be the only answer), Intranet and Web proxy would be greatly appreciated too

orange_

[lrmccain]

which distro should I use

other than the info there, I'd actually stay away from Ubuntu for heavy duty server purposes, you don't need to be running a gui on a server very often so you should save yourself the resources. I'd personally go with something typically suited to enterprise clients... fedora / linspire ....

Just my .02

[Oxygen]

xubuntu might be good, I believe X is a good fairly low resource GUI if you're needing it. Otherwise, I'd say either Debian or Gentoo.

[rong]

I think you will fine this link very helpful for the server side. The Client choices and configuration are pretty easy compared with the server setup.

[orange_]

hey cheers guys.

yea normally I wouldnt use a GUI but its a requirement for the assignment. Will have a look at Xubuntu/Ubuntu etc. Ive heard its good for newbies to use but its a ***** for anyone else.

anyone else got any recomendations for other distros?

orange_

[JHB]

I would use SuSE.
I am using openSuSE for servers as well as on my desktops, and it works very well.
YaST makes it easier to configure the system than other distro's I've worked with and in my opinion it is the best linux distro for the desktop for many reasons, one being the excelent default konqueror / kde configuration.