Best Linux Server - Community Opinion wanted

I am looking to redo my home server and so I would like some advice from the knowledgeable linux community as to which direction I should proceed. Here is what I want:

1. file server for both linux and windows clients
2. Streaming audio/video
3. easy to setup and manage

I have considered freeNas for file server and VideoLan for the streaming audio/video. My current server is amahi (based on fedora) which does a great job as a file server. Amahi is great because there are NO samba issues. But amahi lacks a good streaming video app and is very bulky. Since I am limited on space I want one server for both functions.

Also, I would prefer a web admin interface, but I am proficient at the terminal.

SO, here is the question, what have you done, what has worked for you, and what would you recommend?

I appreciate your thoughtful responses.

Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora... there's a lot of good distributions for what you're describing. Gentoo if you don't mind tinkering under the hood quite a bit to get exactly what you're looking for... Arch the same.

Well you can see my server build on my site, but it doesn't sound anything like what you are trying to do. Though it might give you some ideas about hardware configuration, since it sounds like you are looking for something small and efficient like I was.

Personally I use Slackware, and build the few additional packages I want or need from source. I have never used any web-administration tools, and frankly never saw the need. Once the machine is up and running, I really don't do anything but check the logs and make sure the backups are running (and I have scripts that send that info to my phone now). A web front-end makes sense if you are going to be changing things a lot, but that doesn't seem like something you would do on a home server (of course, each person is going to have different needs here). Slackware doesn't come with any sort of web front-end (besides the daemon-specific ones, like SWAT), but there are plenty of guides online for installing one.

I use Slackware because it is very lean, and very stable. Security updates are also pushed out rapidly and in a sane way, so I feel pretty confident running it on my servers. I have run Slack on my servers since 2003 or so and I have never had a problem.

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