Trying to install MONO/ASP.NET - but cant figure out which Linux distribution to use for a server

Windows server/IIS is no problem, but Linux is... for me...

I am experienced with Windows server administraton and IIS, but I would like to try MONO framework on a Linux-server.

Amazon AWS ECS

For this I will use an Amazon AWS EC2 instance. But I cant decide which Linux distribution is best for "me" nor which images/add ons I need to get it up and running.

I would like something that is simple to config with multiple virtual hosts (domains/subdomains), as I am trying to see if this could work instead of Windows IIS.

My new future CMS-engine setup will utilize many different clusters of webservers and using Windows IIS for this task could get quite expensive with a pure Microsoft Solution.

As I would like the customers to be able to choose their own platform, I need to figure out if MONO is able to support my development - and learn what parts I need to redo so its cross-platform.

MONO and NGINX???

I have tried to install MONO on my Windows 7 machine and played around with the ways to get ASP.NET to work with NGINX webserver, but - now I want to move along to the "real deal" eg. Linux server.

I know about ports, NAT, IP etc. so I am not afraid of a little ASCII config, as long as its logical.

Where do I start? Do I use a Linux with GUI or do开发者_JAVA技巧 I compile some kinda util or perhaps ... and thats why I ask here: do I have to program/compile everything myself on Linux to get a MONO webserver up and running?

I hope some experienced AWS/MONO geeks are listning here. :o)

My own idea was an Ubunto Server, but as a none-Linux expert I have a hard time understanding which distribution is best for which purpose.

I would just recommend Suse Linux. Since Mono is largely sponsored by Novell, who is also the developer of Suse Linux and they have good integration. It's also a good distribution.

http://www.novell.com/products/mono/