I will be setting up a file server for a small business (under 20 peeps). I have a couple of questions:

1) I would like to have the company invest in a quality piece of hardware (at a reasonable price of course). I have found this Vision system at Tiger Direct . Does anyone have any experience with a Vision system? Also do the specs on this system seem about right?

2) I am looking for a distro with a file server option at install. I now the versions of RH I've installed in the past have this option, but I was hoping to try out Libranet or Slack. Do either of these make the file server setup painless? If not which distro would be recommended?

3) The Vision system mentioned above comes with a RAID controller. Do most distros pick up the controller on install?

Thanks

there is a redhat driver for that RAID controller on their (their meaning promise) website, works pretty well.
slackware would be a better OS, but i have not heard of that RAID controller working stable on slack yet.

the specs are fine, probably a bit high for 20 people and linux, just for files.

That machine would be way overkill if you asked me.

I've served files for 150 clients on a 333 MHz machine, Linux and Samba use very low resources.

I would suggest Slackware too, and you shouldn't have too much problems with the RAID controller. Slackware doesn't really give you a "File Server" option, it is more advanced than that, you will need to set it up yourself, but it isn't hard, and you can get plenty of support from this forum, of course.

I would also suggest that you look into a tape backup solution for your server, since one of the risks of central file storage is that if something happens to the server, you lose everybody's data. A daily tape backup with a different tape for each day would be the minimum I would feel safe using.

If you are planning to use a system strictly as a file server, you can opt for one without firewire and sound. A lower end Display adapter too could help reduce costs. ... of course, if budget is not an issue ... no problems.

As MSGFX suggested, a backup device like a DLT drive could enhance the stability and availability of your data.

as a slackware fan i would like you to go slack, you will have to patch the kernal with the patch files on the promise website.
as for specs, i have a 750 duron with 380 something ram running a website and mail server. i also have an athlonXP 2500+ running a database, printer, website, and files.