For Ubuntu Linux you don't need to get hung up on whether to run a server/workstation. For all practical purposes, they are one and the same with the only difference being the package selection. If you are going to use the system primarily as a cruncher, but need to browse to get your clients, etc., you can just load in the desktop version, which I recommend because you will get the largest selection of libraries. Go browse, get your clients. Be sure that you have a text editor that will work in command line mode that you can use......... vi is there for about every linux/unix, but it isn't a snap to use. For beginners I would recommend Joe as a text mode text file editor. Then once you have your clients, go into superuser mode and edit your /etc/inittab file, to change your runlevel from 5 to 3, and then reboot the system. This will put you into text mode only with network/internet access and use this mode for your crunching. This way you don't have all the extra software loaded and running, and memory usage is much lower.

For 64-bit I run both Suse and Mepis. Mepis was a Ubuntu knockoff. To install joe, go into superuser mode, and then issue the command "apt-get install joe" and it will go out and install it for you. The upcoming versions/beta_version of Mepis is supposed to be going back to a Debian based system.

Anyway, that would give you an operational gutted out cruncher, with the ability to switch back and forth if you ever wanted to. I use one linux desktop to get my clients and stuff and then put that on a central drive so that every system can get the new clients and needed.

If you need help Nflight, feel free to PM me and I will walk you through stuff.