Zorin 7 Lite for Home Server

hi everyone i am a linux newb i have had over a decade experience with windows pc's but only just started looking deeper into linux it is something i have wanted to do for a while just needed a reason

now i have one i have a home server currently it is running Windows 8 Pro x64 as my home server OS and it works fine but i have always liked the idea of using Linux on a server it just seems right

so for the last couple weeks i have been testing every distro i can find trying to see which one i want to use

My latest is Zorin 7 Lite with the LXDE now i know you are not really supposed to use a GUI on a server but i am still learning so i need one for now i can always change if i feel like it later

i have a few tasks i want to do with this server and few pieces of software i need to run

Basically it will be a storage server and serve those files to a combination of Linux and Windows Machines and HTPC's running XBMC i also need to setup my Sabnzbd Usenet Software as well which i already know how to do

i need something sturdy and reliable as i basically want to unplug everything from it and sit it in a corner and let it run 24/7 for months on end one of the main reasons i am thinking of switching to linux is because i don't have to do constant reboots after updates and i also here linux systems can run for weeks, months or even years without issue as well as the issue of not having to worry about viruses

My question is would Zorin 7 Lite be a good choice to use on my home server as it seems lightweight but has a nice easy to use GUI i was going to go with lubuntu but as this is based on that and performs at the same level whilst having a better look i don't see why this could not be a good choice

would love to hear suggestions or thoughts on if this is a good idea

OK, now you know why some GNU/Linux servers get hacked - because lazy sysadmins fail to apply security patches! Yes that is the only way a GNU/Linux server can be hacked - or a sysadmin installs a package blindly before expecting it to see if 'rm -rf' is present - if not you can see all your files and directories get wiped!

If you want to get a GNU/Linux server then go for Ubuntu Server - I don't know what the current crop is like but a Techie where I work, a few years ago needed a temporary solution to a Windows server going down - he was surprised how easy it was to configure.

I would suggest against using a desktop designed OS for a server for any reason.

I have used at least 10 different server OS. and if you are wanting a GUI on a server, then you should install a server OS, most of them will prompt you whether or not you want a GUI installed, and if they do not, then you can simply install one from the repos (in most of them not all of them, eg Redhat OS you have to have a RHN account to install from repos).

I currently use 2 different Server OS's based on the userbase I'm supporting. My personal preference is CentOS minimum as the OS normally runs using between 100-200MB or RAM, which when I first started hosting servers I needed every byte possible. In this case it would not be the OS I would suggest using as it is SUPER striped down, and even some of the most common linux software is not preinstalled. The other OS I am using is Ubuntu Server. This is perhaps the easiest real server software to use, It is pretty simple to get the gui installed (although I can't remember the packages off the top of my head). I can't speak for a fresh install but most of these boxes sit at about 1GB of RAM for the system. I install this system for the new linux users.

Something else to keep in mind is, the UI is a program (CLI and GUI). and if you don't like it it can be changed, if you don't like Unity, then you can install gnome, if you don't like that then install KDE, and likewise, if you don't like bash, you can use sh, or zsh, or csh. Have you tried looking at KDE? it is pretty similar to the Zorin theme, kinda-ish, if you look at it the right way.

And if you don't like it then you can pick up C, C++, and python, and build one exactly how you like it, as that is the Linux way.


Being new to linux and wanting to run a server I do have some recommendations.
Learning:
See if you can find a "Linux +" book or certification guide, and google each of the course objectives, read the first page or 2 of google results (This is how I learned!)

Security
1. Disable root login
2. Increase your ssh key length
3. Change the SSH port
4. Install "screen"
5. Use screen for everything.