Production server?
 

Hi Guys,
I am somewhat new to Linux, although I have been playing with it over the last few years (installing different versions to check it out).

I found this forum just the other day and want to say "kudos" to all of you that contribute to helping guys like me out. This is the best forum I have found for info and help as of yet and it seems as thought there are a lot of knowlegable folks here. Thanks for your efforts.

I am a network administrator for about 3 or 4 doctor offices and I run and manage Windows and NT servers at all my sites. I am certified in Windows 98, NT worstation, NT Server, as well as Novell server (although I do not manage any novel servers). My sites consist of anywhere from 2 to 6 workstations, and usually one NT file server. I also have a good working knowledge in the infrastructure behind networks (routers, hubs, wiring etc...)

I have been watching Linux for quite a while now and have been installing different distributions on a spare box I have in my office and up until now have not looked at it as a serious option for any of my sites. However, I just installed Sarge a couple of days ago and I am starting to look at using it as a test server at one of my sites. The doctor that owns the practice is a real penny pincher and just found out that the software he uses for his billing is going to require Windows 2000 within the next year. I suggested that we look at replacing his NT server with Linux as a way to save $$$ for his practice (the workstations will still be Win2000 to run the software)

Now,, finally the question :)

Our server at that site is only a file server and provides the PC's with a secure login. The workstations have his software installed so it is not being run from the server. I only need a mapped drive to the data subdirectory so the software is not required to be installed on the server.

Would Debian be a good choice for Linux on this server or would a different distribution be a better choice?

I have limited experience on Linux other than just using KDE and poking around with Linux but I do understand the concept behind how Linux works as a server.

I would apreciarte any advice or comments anyone may have about the choice of distribution to use for this project.

Any other comments/suggestions would also be welcome.

Thanks

i run a debian linux server at home, and two at work. debian is a master server distro. i recommend it highly.
easy to configure, ton of docs, lots of users to help you out here at this forum and elsewhere.
very stable and secure. You also have apt and a gazillion packages to work with.
Solid choice. IMHO
cheers

I have been using Debian for 3 years and run an Internet server for a year. A very stable system and good choice as they are easy to maintain. Takes a while to get your head around new concepts but I have found Debian networking very easy to understand and the methods are very simple.
You would need to get NFS (Network File Share) running and then deploy Samba to connect to MS based systems. The beauty of this is that Linux will allow connections to folders specified in NFS and therefore users do not have access to the whole system.