Best Linux distribution for a MiniITX server

Hello All,

I am about to buy a Mini-ITX fanless PC in order to use it as my personal host machine. Apart from the mainboard and some RAM, I will add a 40GB HD and a DVD-CDRW combo.

My intention is to keep it working 24x7 at some corner of my living room, and use it as a web server with Apache + Tomcat (or even probably Tomcat only, at least in the beginning). I may also use it to download some things with Emule. I will not attach any screen or keyboard to it (except for the initial setup process, of course) and would always access it remotely via RealVNC or some other remote console.

My main question is:

- Which is the best Linux distribution for this? I am an advanced Windows XP user but I have very basic skills on Linux, so I would need some simple distribution that does not need the kernel to be recompiled or some other manual installation steps. I would also need some XWindows interface unless I can run that from my remote client.

- My ADSL router works also as a firewall. Are there any security risks if I only open the required ports?

- Is there some freeware XWindows client that I can run from Windows XP, instead of RealVNC, in order to improve the screen refresh speed when I access it remotely?

Thank you very much. I am new to any Linux newsgroups so I don't know if crossposting is not nice... if so, I am sorry, but I really don't know which is the best group to ask this question.

Regards,

Luis.