Runjake gave you some excellent advice - you should definitely use CentOS to run your personal device(s). Aside from that, I have a few other recommendations:

Runjake gave you some excellent advice - you should definitely use CentOS to run your personal device(s). Aside from that, I have a few other recommendations: 1.) Don't just let the client use one box. You need a production box and a staging box. You need a staging box because simple things (ie - doing updates) will sometimes fuck things up beyond repair. It is way better to have a fucked up staging box than a fucked up prod box!! 2.) If you're looking for information on security and monitoring, I'd suggest reading over the PCI-DSS documentation. Vast swaths of PCI-DSS are festering crap, but it will give you a good look at how some people like to monitor their systems. While you're at it, read Owasp's secure configuration guide and NIST's publication on server monitoring. You're not likely to get solid answers here, but you should get a sense of the trade offs that sysadmins have to make. 3.) If I were in your shoes, I'd build a Vagrant box that exactly matches what you'll use in staging/prod. This box is purely for fun. It's way easier to try new things on your local! 4.) Have fun!! Sysadmin is a dark art, but it's also incredibly fun. Enjoy learning and have fun!