Hi there
Centos is fine - but also IMO OPENSUSE is also excellent and possibly might be more up to date. NEW release 13.2 out tomorrow (Mon Nov 3rd) - I've already tested the 13.2 RC and it works perfectly.
openSUSE.org
The thing to do with Linux is simply to try with the "Live Distros" -- these offer an easy way to start using Linux right out of the box without having to install anything or make any changes to your existing computer HDD's.
If you install on an external SSD (connect via a SATA==>USB2/3 connector) the response time will be good enough even to bring up a Windows VM from the Linux machine running on the SSD. An old laptop HDD also makes a reasonable external device for this.
Check out my post here
http://www.eightforums.com/installa...make-portable-windows-system-any-version.html
Now you can play around and install things on it to your hearts content and you haven't touched your current HDD.
For creating a server this will work better than creating a VM of the server - although -way beyond the scope of the post eventually using the server on some type of HYPERVISOR like ESXI would be the best way forward - depending what you actually want the server to do. Getting ESXI to work on a "White Box" though can be a bit problematical.
I believe that servers are best run in a virtual environment but finding the right virtualisation system isn't always easy. ESXI if it works is a brilliant solution for virtualising your server as it will then run at 99% of native speed on any decent hardware.
However Linux is very tolerant of really old hardware so for a simple file / print / DB server / Internet host then an old machine might be OK -- but DO get decent fast disks. A server can tolerate a slowish CPU (unless its got loads of users on it) but slow HDD's are a KILLER.
If you want to run the server from your desktop then HYPER-V might be the answer -- Kari probably has more experience of running VM's on HYPER-V - and running a Linux VM on it - I haven't tried.
The problem with using something like VMware player for running the VM is that you need to be logged on. HYPER-V can run the VM's in the background so the users don't even NEED an account on the HOST. VMWARE workstation can too - but it's expensive for a home user (150 USD or more I believe).
Personally I'd try for something like Esxi and then virtualise BOTH your windows desktop AND your server - and they'll both run at almost native speed.
Free VMware vSphere Hypervisor, Free Virtualization (ESXi) | VMware United Kingdom
Cheers
jimbo