Howdy,

I'm in need of a Linux server on a separate, primarily offline network
I have set up at a job. I was initially leaning toward Arch Linux, my
distro of many years I use for my workstations and some home servers.
BUT, I don't want to spend loads of time updating rolling updates,
monitoring security vulns and bugs, and I don't really have time to
build a server up from scratch either (relinquishing controlling /
minimalist nature to allow time saving in this case). Ideally SE or
security centric values are important.

I also need it to bring up a wireless interface (in addition to the
wired network) for Internet connectivity on occasion for updating NTP
and grabbing security updates and AV definitions. I can BASH script
and run a cron job for everything, however the wifi requires an Accept
button be pushed on a web page before access is granted every time a
connection is made to it. It's a Cisco based access point. I did a
quick search on Google and didn't find any kind of automation for
this. Worst case scenario I could do a Python script to make this
automated (hopefully, page is SSL) and kick it off from my cron job
BASH script if no one has any suggestions. On a separate note, I'll be
securing the wifi transmission as well.

The server will run services for a gigabit switch comprised of mostly
Windows 7 workstations with one Linux workstation (total of 8 ~ 10
computers). It will service anywhere from 0 - 4 users simultaneously
and run backups and database back-end for an application every so
often.

I plan to set up an OS disk and separate software RAID0 for storage.

Services to provide:
* NTP
* DNS
* SMART (monitoring disks) / mdadm (RAID mgm, monitoring)
* Syslog (for intake of switch logs)
* postgres
* SMTP server (sending alerts, notifications)
* File server (Samba, NFS)
* Comodo AV, some other home brew scripts for malware
* SSH
* X, lightweight but ready to use WM/DE like LXDE or XFCE- server will
be headless after setup
* Firewall service covering both intermittent wifi and wired networks

Long term I may add:
* HTTP (for webmin, monitorix, log reporting)
* Room to be flexible for future needs...

I've worked very little with CentOS at my last job awhile back,
however am leaning toward it as I recall liking it. Are there other
open source enterprise server distros people recommend for what I'm
trying to accomplish? If so, how come? If I go with CentOS or whatever
people recommend, are updates obtainable via command line and
automation friendly (for the script)? Will I need to re-install with
each major version? Are there gui front ends for most daemons or at
least managing daemons (I'm used to text files and systemd, but want
added convenience / time savings)?

I'm open to poking around with LiveCDs / VMs for bit, the project
isn't quick turn around or anything. Thanks for any suggestions!

--
Jeremy MountainJohnson
Jeremy.MountainJohnson at gmail.com