I am considering replacing an old secondary computer in my bedroom with a silent mini-ITX based system. It would run Linux and serve as a domestic online backup server, domestic Jabber server, domestic OpenLDAP server, general office/web client for secondary use, and as a PVR/general multimedia centre using a fairly old DVB PCI card, with sound output connected to hi-fi speakers. Because it is in my bedroom, and I want to be able to sleep without having to turn it off as I have to turn off the present one, I am after a totally silent/fanless system.
I should be interested in views on three things:
(1) what flavour of Linux that people recommend for that sort of use (I currently use Mandriva 2006 on the computer that I am considering replacing);
(2) what brand/model(s) of mini-ITX form factor motherboards are better, and the advantages/disadvantages of the many different varieties; and
(3) whether a double PCI slot converter (I would post the URL, but apparently, I must have more forum posts before I post URLs) would be a reliable way of enabling me to use a proper soundcard and a PCI DVB card (I am very picky about sound quality, and very suspicious of the quality of the DACs of onboard solutions), or whether such a system would likely result in instability, and additionally, what case might be suitable for a system that would use the dual PCI slot expansion module.