DISCLAIMER: I AM TOTALLY NEW TO LINUX, PLEASE RESPOND ACCORDINGLY.

I want to install a distro on a USB hard drive that will be completely independent of the system I connect it to. (Assuming of course USB boot capability)

I do NOT want a small, crippled system.

Ease of installation is a must.

Has anybody used Mandrake MOVE, will it work for this purpose?

I have several used pullout laptop HDD's and I bought USB enclosures for them, they work very well for portable storage but now I want a complete OS on one for my laptop.

The next project after this (assuming I find a solution) is to take 4 of the enclosures and attach them to a powered hub and try for RAID 5. Any suggestions to avoid trouble there?