Linux Server w/ Windows Clients

[agent154]

I'm in a college course right now which focuses mainly on setting up and administering a windows network (Windows Server and Windows Client). I would also like to learn, on the side, how to setup a comparable Linux server solution. Something that would have all the standard amenities that a Windows server would have, that would also be able to serve Windows clients on the network. Does anybody know of any good reference material (preferably in print textbooks) that help with this? Keep in mind that I have very minimal experience with Linux, so I would need to have something that caters to new Linux admins. I know a bit about how Linux works in comparison to Windows, but not enough to try to learn on my own using the web.

Also, are there any certifications that I may want to look into for professional credibility?

Thanks.

[Firewolf]

About certifications:
LPIC: http://www.lpi.org/
RedHat: http://www.redhat.com/certification/rhce/

About the documentation:
I mostly use the web for information.
Which distribution do you want to use?

For a Fedora system, this might be a good start (I'm a Fedora user):
http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-fedora-12-x86_64-ispconfig-2

If you want Windows clients to connect and use Linux servers, then consider learning SAMBA at least. SAMBA is used for e.g. file & printersharing.
For a webserver, consider Apache, MySQL & phpMyAdmin.
For a mailserver, I would suggest Sendmail or Postfix for SMTP, and Dovecot for IMAP & POP.
ProFTP is nice for FTP features.

[agent154]

thanks, i'll look into those.