I'm not in the VFX industry, so I can't really offer much help in terms of your specific needs, but I do have a few questions to ask in case someone else may be

I'm not in the VFX industry, so I can't really offer much help in terms of your specific needs, but I do have a few questions to ask in case someone else may be able to better address them: Do you have a particular distribution or sets of distributions in mind? My guess is that you're looking at Redhat or OpenSuse. What particular tasks will you set these machines to (e.g. drawing, sculpting, rendering, schedule management, etc.)? What's your support system like? Do you have in-studio certified Linux technicians if something goes wrong? If not, do you intend to purchase a support contract where you can reach out for personalized help 24-7? Are there particular software packages you need and are you aware of the state of their compatibility or lack thereof with Linux? If they are not compatible, have you found suitable alternatives? I'm assuming you're going to use software products from Adobe, the Foundry, Autodesk, Houdini, etc. Many Linux versions of these products tend to be built as afterthoughts if they're ever at all officially supported. Do you have any specialized hardware (e.g. Cintiqs)? If so, have you taken the time to test for driver issues?