The Linux server was in place some two months after starting this project. I am sure this could have been days if I had known what I was doing but I would recommend to anyone considering a similar project to allow themselves a good time period. This is especially applicable if like me they have cut their support teeth in Windows. Linux is not difficult to use, just different and the transition from Windows takes time. Read the excellent documentation around before you start and also you may find it more beneficial to try this step by step on a secondary machine whilst your old one is still running elsewhere. Migrating is a better approach than a straight swap.